Man dies in fire at his Hertfordshire home

A 53 year old man has died in a fire at a block of flats in Letchworth, Hertfordshire.

25 firefighters from Biggleswade and Letchworth fire stations attended the blaze which broke out at around midnight last Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the East of England Ambulance service said: “Most of the residents were out of the flats on our arrival and were being cared for by police in the street adjacent to the fire.”

The block of flats were cordoned off for some time after the incident while police officers carried out an investigation into the cause of the blaze.

Fire at Dursley flats thought to be arson

A fire which broke out in a block of flats on 1^st April is being treated as suspicious.

Residents, including a couple and their 2 children had to flee the burning building.  Dan and Sarah Elliot had to run through the flames with their 2 young twins, Amelia and Isobel.  Mr Elliot said: “There was no other way out.  The girls were in bed, we didn’t even wake them up, we just grabbed them, wrapped them in blankets and had to run through the fire to get out.  It was just thick black smoke, you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face.”

Connie Lusmore, another resident in the flats had recently returned from hospital after receiving treatment for a blood clot and was too ill to move. Her teenage son stayed with her and tried to keep her calm. Connie said; “It all happened so fast. It was panic at first but the lady on the phone said to shut the door and get as far away from the fire as possible.”

Neighbour, John Jenkins was hailed a ‘hero’ after running from his home wearing just his boxer shorts to throw water onto the flames. Mr Jenkins who applied to be a part time firefighter but was rejected due to health reasons said: “I’m going to keep trying, it’s something I really want to do. I failed my cardio test by a tiny amount. If I work on that, I think i’ll get in.  I’d had all the training so I knew what I was doing but the fire service wasn’t happy with me when they turned up. They told me to get the hell out of there.”

An investigation into the cause of the fire will be carried out but the incident is being treated as arson.

Fire at ethnic food factory

Family escape blaze after dog spots fire

A student has been praised for her quick thinking after alerting the fire brigade that a neighbouring house was on fire.

Eighteen year old Danielle Davey of Thorpe St Andrew was woken by her dog ‘Scooby’ at around 1am yesterday. Danielle said “I heard a bang and didn’t think anything of it and then my dog Scooby went over to the window and started barking.  I looked out and saw the fire. When I looked out there was fire coming out of the window. When I was on the phone to the fire brigade there was a further explosion – there was just smoke everywhere.”

A 35 year old man was taken to the hospital to be treated for burns to his throat and smoke inhalation. All other occupants including the family pets escaped shaken but unhurt.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue service have said of Danielle; “We’re full of praise for her actions. With any kind of fire the sooner we can get there the less chance there is of someone being injured or killed.”

An investigation will be carried out by the police and fire officers to determine the cause of the blaze.

Four children die in Derbyshire house fire

Four children have died after a house fire in Hulland Ward, Derbyshire. Two of the young children died at the scene, and two other children escaped the fire but were pronounced dead at hospital.

The fire broke out at around 11.30pm on Monday 24th January. It is not yet known what caused the fire but there are rumours circulating that the family had recently received threats of some sort. An investigation in to the cause of the blaze is being carried out.