A devastating house fire on Boxing Day has claimed the lives of a mother and her two young children in Stroud, Gloucestershire.
Emergency crews rushed to the property on Brimscombe Hill shortly after 3am on Friday, discovering the blaze already well underway.
The woman, who was in her 40s, became trapped alongside her seven-year-old daughter and four-year-old son.
Detective Superintendent Ian Fletcher described it as a “tragic incident”.
Both parents woke to the fire in the early hours and desperately tried to reach the back bedroom where their children were sleeping.
The father managed to get out through a bathroom window before making a desperate attempt to climb into the children’s bedroom from outside.
The “ferocity and heat” of the flames made it impossible for him to reach them, according to Det Insp Fletcher.
He made a second attempt to re-enter via the bathroom, but by then the fire “had taken hold” of the property.
The man was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment.
Gloucestershire Constabulary confirmed on Monday that the father is a serving officer with the force.
Investigators recovered the bodies of the mother and one child on Sunday, though formal identification has not yet been completed.
Efforts to retrieve the second child’s remains are continuing, with teams proceeding carefully due to the building’s unstable condition.
The investigation has established that the blaze started on the ground floor of the home.
Police have stated they do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances connected to the cause of the fire.
The family home was destroyed in the incident, which occurred during the early hours of the Christmas holiday period.
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