Dramatic video of cable theft blaze

Fire crews plucked two residents from upstairs bedrooms seconds before the blast ripped along the street, leaving two houses partly demolished and four more with extensive fire and blast damage.

Miraculously no one was seriously harmed, though one firefighter was taken to hospital with minor cuts.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) arrived at the scene to find a string of small fires in the row of six terraced houses. They later discovered the blast was caused by the cutting of a piece of copper cable from an overhead line.

We have already had one fatality as a result of cable theft. If people continue to tamper with equipment on the electricity network, it is only a matter of time before more people die. Ian Bitcon, West Yorks Fire & Rescue

Thieves had stolen bits of the copper cable affecting the earthing of the electrical network in the area and prompted unusual electrical activity which had devastating affects on the gas pipes at the properties.

Cable crime wave

Ian Bitcon, WYFRS senior operations response officer, said: “If the house had exploded only seconds earlier, there is no doubt in my mind that it would have killed or seriously injured the occupants and the firefighters who were risking their lives to rescue them.

“We can’t stress enough how devastating this could have been. Instead, they lost their homes and possessions rather than their lives.

“We have already had one fatality as a result of cable theft. If people continue to tamper with equipment on the electricity network, it is only a matter of time before more people die.”

The incident in Castleford last week affected the electricity supply to 63 properties and the gas supplies to 55 properties.

Last month, thousands of rail passengers were stranded for hours as 60 trains ground to a halt, after thieves targeted cables at a signal station in the south west. British heritage sites, including churches, have also been hit by the rise in cable thefts, as the price of lead and copper soars.

Geoff Earl, CE Electric UK’s head of health and safety, said: “As a company, on average we are dealing with around five incidents of metal theft on a daily basis. We cannot stress enough how dangerous it is to tamper with electrical equipment on the network. These incidents are a real threat to public safety.

We are pleading with these thieves to think about the consequences of their actions and how much they are risking for such a small return. Geoff Earl, CE Electric

“We are pleading with these thieves to think about the consequences of their actions and how much they are risking for such a small return, especially in the light of the recent fatality in Leeds. You really cannot put a price on your own life.”

Northern Gas Networks Director of Health Safety and Environment Dave Hutchison said: “This footage sends a clear message to metal thieves targeting electrical and gas equipment – don’t do it. It is extremely dangerous and threatens lives all for the sake of a few pounds.”

“We continue to see a concerning increase in the number of metal related thefts on our gas network which not only endanger lives but disrupt gas supplies and communities. Our top priority is safety and we always send an engineer to respond to a gas leak within an hour of it being reported. If you smell gas please don’t leave it to someone else to report, call 0800 111 999 immediately – it could be a life-saving call.

DCI Phill Wright, Crime Manager of Wakefield District Division urged anyone who has any information about cable theft to contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.