Mother and her two children aged seven and four are killed in Boxing Day house fire – as police officer father is treated in hospital after escaping blaze

While their police officer father remained in the hospital after escaping the fire, two children and their mother died in a house fire the day after Christmas.

Emergency services were called to a ‘major’ fire at the terraced house on Brimscombe Hill, near Stroud, at around 3am.

Gloucestershire Constabulary said the father, who survived the tragedy, was a serving officer in the force.

He tried to save his wife and two children, a seven-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy, but was driven back by the intensity of the flames.

In his update today, Detective Superintendent Ian Fletcher said the mother and father had woken up from the fire and were trying to reach their child in the back bedroom.

‘They could not reach the back bedroom due to the intensity of the fire,’ he said.

‘The father ran out of the house by breaking the bathroom window to try to gain access to the children’s bedroom from outside.

‘He was unable to enter the property through his bedroom window.’

DS Fletcher said the father tried to return to the property to save his wife and children but was unable to do so.

Burnt roof timbers of house near Stroud

The officer continued: ‘He then attempted to re-enter the property through the bathroom window, by which stage the fire had also engulfed the bathroom and he was unable to return to the upstairs bedrooms.

‘He then went downstairs and attempted to force entry through the front and back doors but was unable to gain entry back into the property.

‘It was at this point that our colleagues in emergency services attended and began to manage and respond to the fire.’

Mr Fletcher said the fire was believed to have started on the ground floor and investigations were ongoing to establish the cause, but the fire was not treated as suspicious.

The magnitude of the fire caused the roof of Cotswold’s mid-terrace stone cottage to collapse, causing the ceiling and stairs to collapse.

While the body of a woman in her 40s was removed from the house, the body of a child was found at the scene.

DS Fletcher said work was ongoing He was trying to recover the second child’s body, but the unstable nature of the property meant it would take time.

Chloe Turner, who represents Minchinhampton on Stroud District Council for the Green Party, said: ‘If anyone in the community has information that could assist the investigation or requires any support as a result of the incident, please call 101 or notify police at the scene and they will refer you to the appropriate agency.

‘Emergency services and councils work closely together, but if you have any problems please let me know.

‘My thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragic incident.’