Family targeted by arsonists twice

Mark Seaman, 43, Linda Spence, 38, and her three children were left shocked after the fires at their home in Harriston, near Aspatria, which police are now investigating.

Flames engulfed the front of Mark's work van in the early hours of Tuesday morning, coming dangerously close to houses and gas canisters filled with highly flammable butane in the back of the van.

Linda thinks if the fire had reached the gas, there could have been an explosion that would have set nearby houses on fire.

She said: "That's the scary bit. That van and everything in there is replaceable. It's a heap of metal, I don't care about that. It's everything else, everybody else.

"The old lady who lives on the end is well into her 80s. It could have given her a heart attack, it could have killed her and even though it's not my fault, I would have had that on my conscience."

Linda has not slept since the fire and her youngest child, Liam McCarthy, who is eight years old, has asked if there's going to be another fire and won't sleep on his own.

Linda said: "I'm drained, deflated and just about ready to give up to be honest but thankfully I've got really good neighbours that keep you going."

She was woken up at about 2am on Tuesday by a bang outside and then a horn beeping. When she looked out of the bedroom window she was horrified to see blazing flames leaping up from Mark's van.

Screaming at Mark to get up and she dialled 999 as she rushed to the front door.

"I was shaking that much, I couldn't unlock the door," she said.

Ten retained firefighters from Aspatria and Wigton in two fire engines responded to the emergency call, arriving in Harriston within eight minutes.

"We can't thank them enough for how quickly they responded," said Linda.

Linda and Mark are grateful that the firefighters' swift action stopped the fire from getting any worse.

Everything in the van was destroyed, including tools which carpenter and plumber Mark had owned for more than 20 years since he was an apprentice.

He has already returned to work thanks to the generosity of colleagues from Ashcroft groundworks and demolition business based in Dearham who have loaned him tools until everything is sorted out with insurers.

This is the second time Linda and Mark have been targeted by arsonists. The first incident was again at night on Saturday, May 14, when Mark's personal van was set on fire.

The fire was smaller and as the van was parked round the back not many people were aware of it, unlike Tuesday's fire which woke up most of the village.

Although Linda, Mark and her three children Riley McCarthy, 11, Dillon McCarthy, 14 and Liam have lived in Harriston for nearly four years, Linda said they still feel relatively new in the village.

She was adamant on leaving, saying the incidents had affected her children, but neighbours have so far been able to persuade her to stay.

"Everybody's just so shocked it's happened again. Nobody knows what's going on," she said.

The couple have no idea why they have been victims of the attacks but hope police investigations will find out.

Anyone with information should call police on 101.