Cannabis Factory Discovered During Fire Investigation

Avon and Somerset Police are investigating the cause of the fire that badly damaged houses in Vernon Terrace yesterday, and have revealed it could be arson.

Image courtesy of Avon Fire & Rescue Service

Detectives are looking into the possibility that the blaze may have been started deliberately. A cannabis factory was also discovered in number 8, where the fire began.

Two Asian men were seen leaving the house but have not yet been traced by police.

The property has been so badly damaged that no-one is allowed inside at the moment.

Det Sgt Dickon Turner of Bath CID said: “We are appealing for these men or for anyone who knows them to contact us.

“It is very early into our investigation, so we don’t know yet how the fire started. We are looking at all possibilities from arson, to an electrical fault to a domestic accident.

“What is clear is that it appears that few people locally were aware there was a cannabis factory in that house.”

Fire crews were called to Vernon Terrace on the Lower Bristol Road just before 3pm yesterday after a number of 999 calls were received reporting smoke and flames in one of the properties.

Upon arrival, firefighters discovered a fire in the ground floor and top floor of two properties in the terrace.

Additional fire crews were called in from Bath’s Fire Station as well as Brislington Fire Station, with six engines, a turntable ladder and incident command units arriving on scene.

The fire was eventually put out just before 5pm. Crews were pulled back from the scene for some time after the roof of both houses collapsed into the building.

Police said that nobody was injured in the fire and Avon Fire and Rescue confirmed this morning that nobody had been inside.

Firefighters used water jets from the ground and the turntable ladder to bring the blaze under control.