Oxfordshire fire raises council 'bomb' fears

Offices of the South Oxfordshire District Council have been gutted by fire after a car – possibly filled with gas canisters – ploughed into the front of the building this morning.

Bomb disposal experts have been called to the shell of the building, which is still being damped down by fire crews.

Eyewitnesses told the BBC that they saw the car smash through the council's offices. One witness, Karl Mitchell-Shead, said he had seen a burn-out vehicle in the building's foyer.

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"We wondered if someone had accidentally driven into it, or purposely driven into the foyer, but certainly it looks like that's where the fire started," he said.

Witnesses also reported gas canisters exploding, which the Daily Telegraph says raises the possibility that they may have been used to "turn it into a bomb".

Thames Valley Police said that they have arrested a 47-year-old man on suspicion of arson in connection with three fires.

The other two blazes broke out at a funeral parlour and a nearby thatched cottage. Both fires were reported within nine minutes of the first blaze.

The owner of the funeral parlour say that the fire started when a man threw a gas canister through the window of the premises before driving off.

David Etheridge, chief fire officer for Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "We are in the process of dealing with three major fires in South Oxfordshire, which occurred within a very short timeframe.

"These are ongoing incidents and our firefighters are working hard to get the fires under control, with assistance from neighbouring fire and rescue services at the South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Council office fire."

In a statement on the South Oxfordshire District Council website, local authorities detailed the emergency response to the incidents.

"Ten fire appliances, all from Oxfordshire, had to attend a fire at a thatched property in Rokemarsh," it said. "The call was received at 03:11. A further call was received to a fire at a funeral parlour in Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford at 03:20. Four fire appliances attended this incident – again all from Oxfordshire.

"At 03:20, a call was received to a fire at the South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Council office at Crowmarsh Gifford. Thirteen appliances attended this incident – including two from Berkshire, a water bowser from Wiltshire and a hydraulic platform from Buckinghamshire."

Etheridge said that police and emergency services teams would work together to discover the cause of the incident. "At this stage I am unable to state what the causes of the fires were. This matter is currently in the hands of Thames Valley police, with whom we are working in conjunction."