THE HUGE fire which swept through a Burnley furniture warehouse and general store is believed to have caused more than £1million of damage.

As we reported online yesterday, around 50 firefighters battled for 12 hours to control the raging inferno at Spring Garden Mill Shopping Outlet in Plumbe Street.

Yesterday fire investigation officers, who suspect the fire was started by arsonists, were examining the site for clues.

Firefighters also remained at the scene throughout the day, dampening down smouldering embers to ensure the fire would not re-ignite.

Bosses at the outlet which houses RDA's Variety Store said a large quantity of stock, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, had been destroyed in the blaze, which started during the early hours of yesterday morning.

Parts of the complex will also have to be rebuilt because the buildings were so badly damaged.

Owner Rob Hutchinson, who employs ten people at the mill site which has been trading for 16 years, said he was shell shocked.

"I got a phone call from a friend who is a firefighter to say that the warehouse had gone up in flames.

"When I got there the main shop was thankfully saved because of the old stone it is made from protected it from the fire but the new buildings, including the warehouse and showrooms have gone."

Mr Hutchinson, who lives with his wife Cheryl in the Ribble Valley, vowed to re-open the store.

He said: "I will get it open as soon as I can but I reckon it will take a while to clean the place up.

"But one good thing was that one of my best pals, firefighter Don Brady, was here helping to save my business."

The offices in the discount store, which sells beds, sofas and furniture as well as households goods, have also been destroyed.

Firefighters worked through the night to prevent the fire from spreading to other buildings including Burnley Miners’ Club and Billy Budget Car Surgery.

And in the early stages, people were asked to stay inside their homes and keep windows and doors locked due to the large plumes of smoke sweeping across the area.

Fire incident manager Phil Henry said: "The fire was spreading very quickly because of the huge amount of furniture stored in the warehouse and there were very large volumes of smoke.

"The security in the building, such as the metal doors and alarms, made it difficult for us initially to get a direct attack on the fire.”

The main warehouse building, which backs on to the Leeds and Liverpool canal, was badly damaged with charred beams and fallen bricks strewn across the ground.

And fire chiefs said that the rest of the warehouse site was in danger of collapse, with firefighters having to use ladders to fight the blaze from above.

Mr Henry said: "It was an extremely dangerous fire with an extreme amount of heat and smoke."

Mark O'Hara, owner of Turf Moor garages, next to the site, said: "There was loads of smoke blowing into the air and we were worried that it might spread to our garage.”

A joint investigation into the inferno has been launched by the police and fire investigators.

John Taylor, from the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "We are looking into the possibility that it was arson and that it was started deliberately.

"We are treating it as suspicious because we rarely get spontaneous fires starting out of hours.”

Fire investigators will sift through the debris from the blaze to find forensic evidence over the next couple of days.

Katherine O'Callaghan, who lives in nearby Pine Street, said the area had been blighted by arson attacks over the last few months.

The 28-year-old said: "There was so much noise and I was pretty worried when I saw all the fire engines and just kept my windows and doors locked.

"There have been quite a few similar incidents in the area recently and it's a real problem.”

A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: "We are working with the fire service to determine the cause of the fire."