Clacton: Man Dies In House Fire

A man has died following a fire at a house in Clacton.

Firefighters were called to the property on Stanley Road at around 10:30am yesterday (Monday May 6th).

A woman and a toddle were rescued from the burning building by neighbours before crews arrived.

Assistant Divisional Officer Paul Nash, incident commander, said: "When crews arrived at the scene, they were faced with a severe fire on both ground and first floor. They had to work in punishing conditions, mainly inside as it was a mid terraced property to make a search of the building for the man believed to be missing inside and to fight the fire itself.

"Fortunately neighbours were able to get onto a flat roof to smash a bedroom window to bring a woman and small child out of the building before we got here. Unfortunately, we were not able to save the man that perished in the fire and our thoughts are obviously with his family now."

Tendring District Council has rehomed a family of five following the fire.

Paul Honeywood, TDC's Cabinet Member for Housing, Benefits and Revenues and Sports Facilities, said that the Council was contacted by one of the neighbouring families for help. "They called TDC's control centre and were put through to a housing officer for assistance," he said.

"The family - which included a mother and father, a grown-up son and two children - were immediately found a local hotel to stay in for the time being.

"We were not contacted by anyone else needing help with accommodation as a result of the blaze."

A joint police and fire investigation is underway to find out how the fire started.