A HUGE blaze in a row of derelict homes is being treated as an arson attack, as residents say they feared for their homes when the fire took hold.

Firefighters fought back the flames in four derelict properties opposite the Kursaal in Southchurch Avenue, Southend, just after midnight on Friday.

However, the home at the end of the terrace- which was not derelict- was not damaged. The other homes had already been gutted in a fire in March last year.

Sarah Jones, 39, whose property backs onto the shared garden of the affected properties, said she feared the “roaring” blaze would spread to her home.

She said: “Since the last fire there have been homeless people living there and I don’t know why but they have filled the garden up with junk, wooden pallets and things like that.

“If the fire brigade hadn’t got here so quickly it would have spread, no doubt about it. I thought our house would probably end up burning down.

“For a fire to get that big in a building where everything was already burnt down a year ago, it must have been deliberate.

“There have been homeless people in there recently, drinking, doing drugs and shouting and swearing all night. The last three nights we’ve heard a woman shout: ‘Fire in the hole’. So who knows?”

Another neighbour said she was woken up by “shouting and screaming” in the street.

She said: “There were a lot of people out filming it and taking pictures. As far as I know nobody lived there.

“There was an old woman who lived on the end but I think she got scared after the fire last year and decided to move.”

A fire service spokesman said the fire was put out by 1.40am and the properties were “completely destroyed”.

He said: “The fire is thought to have been started deliberately in one the rear gardens which then spread to the properties. An investigation is under way to establish the cause of the fire.”

The investigation is now in the hands of the police.

Echo:

Echo:

Echo:

Last year, the Echo told how the fire damaged properties could not be knocked down because they were connected to the home of 76-year-old Florence Tall.

She is believed to have moved out a few months after last year’s blaze and the Echo has not been able to contact her.

The Inner London Group, which owns the land, had been aiming to start work on the new £60m Marine Plaza development last year.

Last year’s blaze came one week after two deliberate fires were set at the old former rock factory, in nearby Pleasant Road, that also backs onto the Marine Plaza site development site.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "Police were called to reports of a fire at a derelict building in Southchurch Avenue, Southend at around 12.15am today (Friday, April 14).

"Officers attended. It is believed a fire was started deliberately in a rear garden and spread to the derelict building.

"Witnesses reported seeing a number of teenagers in the garden prior to the fire starting and officers are keen to trace them and speak to them.

"There is nothing to indicate the fire is linked to a fire at the same building last year."

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Essex Police on 101 quoting incident 13 of 14/04 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.