Patrols are being stepped up in an area of Oswestry hit by a spate of arson attacks, police chiefs revealed today.

Flames ripped through an historic former signal box in Oswestry in a blaze which could have been started deliberately, fire chiefs said today.

A blaze at a derelict Shropshire hotel is being treated as arson, police said today. An accommodation block at The Lea Manor Hotel, Albrighton, went up in flames yesterday.

Fire has ripped through three empty buildings in Shropshire in 24 hours, including a derelict hotel.

Two dogs had to rescued from a smoke-filled house in Hadnall after a fire broke out in the kitchen.

Smoke that drifted on to the pitch at the Greenhous Meadow during Shrewsbury Town’s match against Crawley Town was caused by a fire at a property near the ground, it was revealed today.

A woman was lucky to be alive today after a fire broke out while she slept at an apartment near Shifnal.

A mother and her two young children fled to safety after a blaze ripped through the lounge of their home in south Shropshire.

Firefighters battled a blaze at a house near Market Drayton amid fears it would spread to neighbouring properties.

A Chinese takeaway in Shrewsbury was destroyed when a blaze tore through it while the owner was away on holiday.

Arsonists set fire to the bedroom of a Telford home while the owner was out, police said today.

An elderly man was dragged to safety from his burning home by neighbours as fire tore through his rural cottage in Shropshire.

An 85-year-old woman is lucky to be alive today after a blaze at her home near Oswestry, firefighters said.

Fire safety advice has been given to people in more than 400 homes in Market Drayton after a 61-year-old woman died in a house blaze, firefighters said today.

Fire chiefs today reissued a warning about the importance of smoke alarms following two serious house fires in Shropshire in just two days.

A 61-year-old woman who died when fire ripped through a semi-detached house in Market Drayton had no working smoke alarms fitted at her home, it emerged today.

A woman died today after fire ripped through a semi-detached Shropshire house.

Arsonists set fire to six wheelie bins in the same street in Shrewsbury.

A family who lost everything in a house fire in Telford said they have been overwhelmed with the response from the public as donations of toys and clothing flood in.

A mother today revealed the desperate moment she dropped her seven-week-old baby out of an upstairs window to save his life as fire ripped through her home in Telford.

The group manager of Shropshire Fire and Rescue, Phil Clarke, warns of the dangers of portable heaters after a family from Telford were forced to flee their home through a window after a fire.

A fire which ripped through a house in Telford was caused by an electric heater, fire investigators said today.

A family of five, including a six-week-old baby, jumped for their lives from an upstairs bedroom as a fire ripped through their home in Telford this morning.

Shropshire saw a 30 per cent rise in the number of arson attacks in the final nine months of 2011, fire chiefs today revealed.

Ask your average person in a Shropshire street where the cuts should fall in these straitened times, and there will not be many who say the fire service should be a priority for the axe.

An investigation was continuing today after a farmhouse in north Shropshire was gutted by a fire.

About 20 firefighters today tackled a fire which engulfed a barn near Bridgnorth laden with 100 tonnes of straw and 30 tonnes of fertiliser.

A family was forced to flee their home after a fire broke out while they were having dinner.

Bridgnorth Rugby Club officials today vowed to ‘beg, borrow and steal’ to make sure one of its busiest weekends went ahead despite being hit by arsonists.

It was a normal Sunday night for Telford couple Clint and Emma Hall, who threw their children’s school uniform into the tumble dryer ready for the next day before retiring for the evening.