Woman arrested over arson attack at Wolverhampton Waterstones
A woman has been arrested on suspicion of arson after Waterstones in the city centre was targeted.
The 33-year-old is currently 'helping police with their enquiries' after a stand with wrapping paper in the Victoria Street shop was set alight. CCTV images show that the fire was started deliberately.
Thankfully the fire did not spread, with staff in the shop extinguishing the fire before fire crews from Wolverhampton fire station arrived. The shop had to be evacuated and one person was treated for smoke inhalation.
The incident happened at around 1.30pm on Saturday afternoon.
West Midlands Fire Service attended the scene along with officers from West Midlands Police and one ambulance from West Midlands Ambulance Service.
Andy Howard, the watch manager at Wolverhampton fire station, revealed that CCTV cameras had allowed WMFSthem to quickly establish that the fire was arson, but that what was used to set the stand in the travel section on fire remains unclear.
He said: "We turned up after getting a call about a fire in the bookshop. When we arrived there was a stand with wrapping paper which had been extinguished. It was quite smoke-logged. The staff inside used a water extinguisher to put the fire out."
