HALF the residents of a street could have died in an arson attack, claims an angry fire chief.

The hunt continued today for firebugs who torched two furnished but vacant homes in Major Street, Accrington, in the early hours of yesterday.

Fire crews were alerted to the blaze when a man sleeping in a neighbouring house in the same terrace woke to find his home full of smoke.

The two houses at the seat of the fire suffered severe damage.

A spokesman for Accrington Fire Station said: "There is no doubt in our minds that had this gentleman woken up so quickly the fire could easily have spread along the terrace, putting the lives of people asleep at risk.

"We cannot understand why people set fire to other people's homes.

"Fires in empty or derelict properties are becoming more and more common, but it a concern to us when arsonists even set fire to fully furnished properties which someone could quite easily have been asleep in."

The fire was reported at 4am yesterday.

It had started in the front bedroom of one of the two houses and spread into number seven. Both were described as 'seriously smokelogged.'

The spokesman added: "We spent about an hour there and, along with the police, we are continuing to investigate the fire. Not only were the residents' lives put at risk, but so too were the lives of our firefighters.

"This is a dangerous job, but it rankles when we have risk our lives for a fire which was started deliberately."

Residents in and around Major Street, in the Scaitcliffe area, say they are fed up of the fires.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said: "A lot of the fires are in empty houses which have not been secured properly.

"The youngsters here are just on the loose all the time. Life here is really unpleasant."