Woman dies and girl, 16, seriously hurt after fire rips through home in Birmingham

Police in the West Midlands are investigating after a house fire left a woman dead and a 16-year-old girl in hospital with serious injuries.

The blaze broke out in Sedgley, in Dudley, at around 3.45 on Saturday afternoon.

Emergency services and locals rushed to help but sadly a 43-year-old woman was declared dead at the scene, police said.

A 49-year-old was taken to hospital and was released shortly after being checked over.

A 16-year-old girl remains in a serious condition, BirminghamLive reports.

Writing on a fundraising page, Michelle Allen said the woman who died, who has not yet been named, had 'the biggest heart'.

A woman died and a teenage girl is in hospital after the fire (West Mids Fire Service)

"I was one of the people who were first on the scene of this horrific tragedy," wrote Michelle.

"I live local and I know a lot of the community had a lot of love for this family.

"This family now has no home, or anything to their name so let's try and raise as much as we can to help them in any way, this is what she would have wanted, she had the biggest heart and helped so many people who needed it."

For more information about the fundraiser, head to the GoFundMe page.

In a tweet, WestMids Fire Service described the blaze as 'severe' and said they had firefighters on the scene in 3 minutes and 38 seconds after receiving a call.

One resident added: "This was in my cousin’s street, never seen as many blue lights in my life.

"Very sad indeed. Apparently people in the street were getting ladders to help and emergency services were there very quickly.

"Absolutely terrible for those poor people involved."

Detective Inspector Carla Thompson, said: “We are working closely with the fire service to determine what happened. I would urge anyone with information to get in touch.

“Our thoughts are with the family of the woman at this difficult time who are being supported by specialist officers."

Enquiries continue and anyone with information is asked to contact police via Live Chat at www.west-midlands.police.uk 8am - midnight or call 101 anytime. Crimestoppers can be called anonymously on 0800 555 111. Quote log 2291 8 May.