'Incendiary device' caused blaze

It took eight hours to bring the blaze under control

A major fire at a DIY superstore in Lisburn was started by an incendiary device, police have said.

More than 100 firefighters were involved in tackling the blaze at the B&Q warehouse in the Sprucefield Retail Park on Sunday night.

There was extensive damage to the rug department and smoke damage to the rest of the property.

Police said that initial investigation indicated the fire was caused by a genuine incendiary-type device.

'Size of the place'

The fire was found at about 2300 GMT on Sunday when staff saw flames in the carpet and rug section.

At one stage 20 fire engines attended the blaze, which took eight hours to bring under control.

Assistant Divisional Fire Office Alister Rooney said the size of the premises made locating the seat of the fire a challenge.

"The size of the place is the first problem we encountered. We had to locate the fire," he said,

"This huge store was just full of smoke and it was no easy task to find the fire.

A blaze destroyed a large carpet shop in Londonderry

"We had 30 firefighters wearing breathing apparatus who were committed into the building to locate and extinguish the fire."

Mr Rooney said sprinklers had saved a huge portion of the building.

Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the blaze.

Democratic Unionist Party MP for Lagan Valley, Jeffrey Donaldson, condemned the attack.

He said: "Those responsible have absolutely nothing to offer the people of this province and are only seeking to drag us backwards.

"In the run up to Christmas, this is a serious blow to the local economy."

Meanwhile, forensic tests have been carried out at the scene of a fire in Londonderry.

The blaze on Sunday morning at the Carpetrite store at the Crescent Link complex, caused £100,000 worth of damage.

It was so fierce that it took 40 firefighters three hours to bring it under control.

Police said that a "detailed and thorough" examination was carried out and the cause of the fire is, as yet, "undetermined".

A number of tests were carried out, the results of which are awaited.

Police inquiries are continuing.