Neighbours in Clifton have described hearing explosions and seeing flames during a car fire that spread to a neighbouring caravan. A car was set on fire and several windows were smashed in what police believe was a targeted attack at a house in Rivergreen at around 6.45pm on Sunday, February 19.
Two houses were affected by the fire, with the scorched shells of a car and a caravan on a neighbouring driveway visible as police and fire investigators arrived on Monday morning. A neighbour told Nottinghamshire Live she heard what she believed to be cannisters exploding near the caravan during the fire.
"I heard a massive bang and thought 'oh my God'," said the woman, who asked not to be named. "Then my neighbour started hammering on my door telling me to get out."
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"The amount of cannisters that were going off. I live here on my own, it all happened so quick. It's shocking, I'm glad no-one was hurt."
Another woman, who lives across the street, said: "The dogs were going mad, it was like fireworks. Just as I came out the fire brigade came. Everything was on fire.
"Both the cars were on fire and it was just banging. There were lots of people out looking at it, I could just see flames and smoke. It's a shame really."
Another neighbour said she heard a blasting sound, adding: "I came out and saw the rescue team, I didn't have time to think about it."
Wendy Talor, 60, who lives nearby, said her husband saw "a lot of smoke and flames". "At first he thought it was a house fire," she said.
"I've not seen anything like this before, there have been police cordons but further up." An anonymous passer-by added: "I was quite surprised to see it. You don't really see that in the neighbourhood, I've lived here for 17 years. I just keep myself to myself and walk my dogs."
Detective Sergeant Steve Dalby, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Our investigation is at an early stage and we are working to understand what happened in the moments before, during and after this incident. To this end we would like to hear from anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious in the area at around 6.45pm yesterday evening.
"We believe this to have been an isolated but officers have remained in the area to provide local reassurance. Anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting incident number 631 of 19 February 2023.”
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