The bodies of a couple have been found after a devastating house fire tore through a residential property in Derbyshire.
The severely damaged house in Riddings, near Alfreton, was captured in images on social media, which showed the walls and roof of the charred property have collapsed.
Derbyshire police confirmed the bodies of a man and a woman were found in the bedroom of the house by fire investigators.
The people who died are believed to be a married couple who lived at the house, the police said. Their families have been informed but the victims have not been formally identified. There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances.
Ch Insp Steve Pont, from Derbyshire police, said: “This is an awful tragedy. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the two people who have lost their lives.”
Police said they were called to the house shortly after 7.30am on Sunday and were working with the fire service to investigate the cause.
Mark Robins, 32, who lives nearby and was awoken by a bang, told the Derby Telegraph: “When you are lying in bed, you don’t know what is going on but it sounded like a loud bang, followed by a noise that sounded like rubble going down into a skip. The house was in flames, with a lot of rubble everywhere, so I rang the fire brigade.”
Firefighters from three different stations attended the scene, which was cordoned off. A spokeswoman for Derbyshire fire and rescue said on Sunday morning: “The fire is ongoing but we are unable to enter the building due to its structural integrity – it’s too dangerous at present so we are fighting the fire from the outside. We will be conducting a joint investigation with the police to determine the cause of the fire.
Off-duty firefighter Paul Archer, 48, who lives in an adjoining street, described how he made his way into a burning house after a suspected gas blast and blaze which killed two of his neighbours: “I was woken up by a loud noise. It didn’t sound like a massive explosion – it sounded like something big had been dropped.”
After being called outside by his wife he put on old firefighting equipment stored in his garage. Archer said: “The flames started straight away. One of the neighbours had got a key and they opened the back door.”
A dog got out of the house as the door was opened and Archer, who works as a firefighter at East Midlands airport, went inside. “I made my way in shouting: ‘Can you hear me?’ The downstairs was really clear,” he said. “I got to the bottom of the stairs, shouting again, and made my way up to the top of the stairs. By this time the house was pretty well ablaze – the front bedroom door was on fire but I was shouting: ‘Hello, can anyone hear me?’”
Archer also saw flames in a rear bedroom and feared the roof might cave in. He left the house via the front door as he heard the sirens of the first fire engines arriving.
East Midlands ambulance service said it had sent a hazardous area response team to the scene.
We are currently on scene at a serious incident in Alfreton, supporting @DerbyshireFRS with our Hazardous Area Response Team.
— EMAS NHS Trust (@EMASNHSTrust) September 20, 2015
