PLAYING with fire could lead to deaths, firefighters warned this week.

Two fire engines from Blackpool's Forest Gate station attended five deliberate rubbish bin fires within three hours on Saturday night (Oc 27) and into the early hours of Sunday morning.

All the incidents involved large rubbish bins in the town centre. One blaze in a large rubbish bin near HSBC Bank on Victoria Street led to the fire spreading to a neighbouring building.

Sub Officer Buschini from Forest Gate Station said these deliberate fires were a drain on resources and could put lives at risk.

"Obviously there's the danger involved in fires spreading but one of the biggest problems is that we are committing appliances to these incidents," he said.

"It has happened in the past that there has been a fatality because crews were attending a deliberate fire elsewhere."

And at 11.11pm on Saturday (Oct 27), 14 people were evacuated after a serious fire spread through an unoccupied mid-terraced house in Grafton Street, Blackpool.

The fire was so severe it spread through the building to the roof and smoke was able to travel along the roof voids of neighbouring houses. 14 people were evacuated from their homes.

Eight firefighters, wearing breathing apparatus, brought the fire under control in an hour.

The house was severely fire damaged and there was smoke damage to eight more properties.

The cause of the fire was under investigation this week. Prior to the fire, a fire engine from Blackpool had been attending a malicious false alarm call.