DETECTIVES are seeking witnesses to a spate of suspicious fires which broke out on a Tonbridge estate during the early hours of Sunday. They say it was "sheer luck" that nobody was seriously hurt or killed in the fires on the estate off the A227 Shipbourne Road. The incidents are being treated as arson.

Three people, including a firefighter, needed hospital treatment for smoke inhalation. The other casualties were a man aged 75 and a woman of 53. The firefighter had helped lead the man and his wife out of the building which was rapidly filling with smoke when he learned a second woman was still upstairs.

Leading firefighter Bryan Chapman said: "He took an instant decision to go back for her. He kept low and managed to get her out, but both needed treatment. They and the elderly gentleman were given oxygen at the scene and then taken to hospital for further treatment."

The drama began when fire engulfed a three-storey block of flats in White Lake Road at 1am when furniture in the street was set alight. Ten people inside the building managed to escape as firefighters tackled flames up to 30 feet high. Eight more fires were started next to homes during the next 90 minutes.

They were logged by Kent Fire Brigade as follows:

• 0116 Northwood Road, Tonbridge;

• 0136 Northwood Road, Tonbridge (it was at this address, number 30, that the three casualties were sustained);

• 0140 Bishop's Oak Ride;

• 0141 Trench Road;

• 0202 White Lake Road;

• 0216 The Chase;

• 0218 Bracken Walk;

• 0218 Clyde Road;

• 0229 junction of The Chase and Trench Road.

Mr Chapman said the fires - typically involving rubbish bins being set alight next to dwellings - all had the potential to be much more serious. He added: "People are advised to keep externally stored waste to a minimum and to be vigilant to help prevent this sort of problem recurring."

Anyone with any information is asked to call West Kent Police on 01622 654452 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.