Mother and two children died in Boxing Day house fire, police say
A mother and her two young children died in a house fire that destroyed their home in the early hours of Boxing Day despite the efforts of her husband to save his family, police said.
Emergency services were called to a property on Brimscombe Hill, near Stroud, Gloucestershire, at about 3am. Gloucestershire Police said the father, who survived the blaze, was a serving officer with the force. He attempted to rescue his wife and two children – a girl aged seven and a four-year-old boy – but was beaten back by the severity of the fire. Detective Superintendent Ian Fletcher told reporters outside Gloucestershire Police HQ that the unnamed mother and father had been awoken by the fire and had attempted to reach their children in the rear bedroom. “They have been unable to get to the back bedroom due to the voracity of the fire,” he said. “The father has smashed his way out of the house through a bathroom window in order to try to access the children’s bedroom via the outside. “He has been unable to enter the property via that bedroom window. “He has then tried to re-enter the property through the bathroom window, by which stage the fire has taken hold in the bathroom and he’s unable to get back into the upstairs bedrooms. “He has subsequently gone downstairs and tried to force entry via the front and the back door but has been unable to get back inside to the property. “It is at this point our colleagues from emergency services have attended and have started managing and dealing with that fire.” Mr Fletcher said the fire was believed to have started on the ground floor and investigations were ongoing to establish the cause, but it was not being treated as suspicious. The extent of the fire has caused the roof of the mid-terrace Cotswold stone cottage to fall in and the ceilings and stairs have collapsed. A body of a woman in her 40s has been recovered from the house, while the body of a child has been located at the scene. Mr Fletcher described the anguish the officer is going through at being unable to rescue his wife and children. “We are not treating this as a suspicious incident at this time,” Mr Fletcher said. “This would appear to be a tragic accident that’s occurred in the early hours of Boxing Day. “The surviving member of this family is a serving police officer at Gloucestershire Constabulary and again our hearts and prayers go out to him and all of his colleagues who know him very well. “He is working with us to try to understand what exactly has happened within that property.” Mr Fletcher added: “We have multiple witnesses who describe the anguish that he was going through, his inability to get in and save his children and save his wife. “He is, as you can imagine, in a very distraught way. “Sadly, lost his family at a time which is supposed to be a happy festive period.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub