Northampton: Man dies after harrowing blaze, fire service says

A 29-year-old man was confirmed to have died following the fire

A 29-year-old man has died following a fire at a property in Northampton.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to reports of a fire at Olden Road, Rectory Farm, on Sunday afternoon.

Two appliances from Moulton attended the scene, as well as fire engines from The Mounts, Mereway, Rushden, Brixworth, Wellingborough and Rothwell.

Station manager Ronnie Rochester said the fire had been a "harrowing incident".

The fire service was called to the property at 13:34 GMT, with the first fire engine to arrive finding it was "well alight, with smoke billowing from a further three neighbouring properties".

Police and the ambulance service were also called as well as the electrical and gas companies.

All of the houses in the area were searched and evacuated.

A 29-year-old man, who was discovered outside one of the properties, died following the fire.

The fire was put out by 15:00, although crews remained at the scene until just after midnight.

Initial investigations to determine the fire's cause started on Sunday night, with firefighters and Northamptonshire Police officers returning to the scene this morning.

Mr Rochester, who attended the fire, said: "Our immediate thoughts are with the family and friends of the gentleman who sadly died at the scene.

"This was a very harrowing incident for both our firefighters and the members of public who witnessed this.

"We will be offering welfare support to our firefighters and will also do our best to help anyone else who witnessed it.

"We would like to extend our thanks to those members of public who quickly alerted our control room and provided us with important information which informed our response."