South Park Care Home fire in Darlington treated as arson

Emergency services were called to the former South Park Care Centre on Lakeside in Darlington just before 3pm on Sunday (February 11). 

Firefighters wearing specialist breathing apparatus entered the property as young people were seen around the former care home earlier in the day. 

The fire service was at the scene for around three hours, before leaving at about 6.30pm on Sunday.

On Monday (February 12), images showing the extent of the damage to the building were released - which showed scorch marks on parts of the building and a police van still at the scene of the fire.

Alongside the images, Durham Police have now confirmed that the incident is being treated as arson.

The fire is believed to have been started deliberately sometime between 2.15pm and 2.40pm.

Officers would like to speak to any witnesses or anyone who may have CCTV or dashcam footage from the area at the time of the incident.

Detective Sergeant Liam Robertson, from Darlington CID, said: “This is a derelict building and the suspects escaped the premises without suffering any injuries, but this could easily have been a very different outcome if they had been trapped within the building.

“I’d like to appeal directly to parents of young people in the area – if you are aware of your child’s involvement in this incident then you should make yourselves known to us.”

The care home was closed after it was branded ‘inadequate’ by inspectors in 2016 and went into administration.

At the time dozens of residents had to be relocated and 40 staff faced the prospect of redundancy.

The care centre’s closure was blamed on cash flow issues due to low numbers of residents at a site that could house 67 people.

At the time of the fire, a spokesperson for the fire service said: “Shortly before 3pm yesterday (Sunday) we were alerted to a fire at a disused care home on Lakeside in Darlington.

“A total of five fire appliances attended the scene and firefighters wearing specialist breathing apparatus entered the property to tackle a fire on the ground floor.

“The fire was extinguished, and the property searched to ensure no one was inside.

“Firefighters left the scene shortly before 6.30pm.

On Sunday, Michael Pearson, group manager of County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, said the fire was being viewed as a possible arson although he could not be certain.

He said: “When we got there part of the ground floor had a reasonably sized fire going and that filled the building with smoke.

“We very quickly got the fire under control and then it was a case of progressing throughout the building making sure there was no one in.

“We had information that several youths had been seen entering it but not coming back out.

“That was our priority, to make sure that there was no one still in there.

“It took a while to do a thorough and full complete search, which we have done, and there was no one in there.

“We were equipped for the worst case scenario but no one has been hurt thankfully.”

The ambulance service confirmed that no one was taken to hospital during the incident.

A spokesperson for the North East Ambulance Service said: “We received a call to 999 at 3.09pm this afternoon to reports of a fire at a derelict building in Darlington. 

“We sent two Hazardous Area Response Teams, a tactical manager and a clinical team leader however no patients were on scene requiring treatment.”

If you have any information for Durham Police, you are asked to call 101, quoting incident number 245 of February 11.