Hundred firefighters tackle flames in Bradford city centre

The fierce blaze at Empire House, Piccadilly, destroyed offices on four floors of the Victorian building, the former offices of William Hicks & Partners solicitors.

At its height, 100 firefighters from Bradford, Odsal, Fairweather Green, Idle, and the surrounding areas attended.

They battled the fire for more than five hours, using hydraulic platforms from Bradford and Leeds.

A joint inquiry started yesterday following the major fire, which broke out at 11.45pm last night.

Bradford fire station watch manager Alan Jordan said fire crews using breathing apparatus went inside the building, fearing there may be someone inside but it was found to be unoccupied.

He said: “When we got there the ground floor was well alight and there was smoke issuing from the first and top two floors.

“We didn’t know if there was anybody in there, so we used breathing apparatus to check but there was nobody there.

“It caused a large amount of damage to the building.”

The fire, which had been reported by a passer-by, is understood to have started on the second floor of the building. The heat of the blaze smashed windows at the front of the building. Police put road blocks in place while firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control.

A West Yorkshire Fire Service command unit was also sent to the scene.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: “We are looking at the fire as a suspected arson. There are some lines of inquiry to follow up and investigations are on-going.”

It is the second fire started at offices in Piccadilly so far this year. In February, firefighters tackled a blaze which was believed to have been started by homeless people trying to keep warm.

They searched the building for more than an hour, believing people could be trapped inside but no-one was found.

The fire caused major smoke damage to the inside of the building.

No-one at William Hicks & Partners was available for comment.