RESIDENTS of quiet cul-de-sac have told of their horror after a neighbour died during a fierce fire at his home.
The victim was named locally as grandfather John Young.
He was pronounced dead at the scene and his wife was taken to hospital after fire broke out in Oakfields, Burnopfield, near Stanley, in County Durham, at 8.40pm on Saturday.
Neighbours remember hearing a loud ‘bang’ before the alarm was raised.
FATAL: Police at the scene this morning. Picture North News
The garage roof was destroyed in the fire and the heat was so intense neighbours and medics were unable to save the man.
Paul Cummings, 50, who lives next door-but-one said: “I was sitting in the conservatory and there was this huge explosion. The windows rattled.
“I could hear groaning and I went out. The couple next door were out.
“They said ‘you have to come quickly, something awful has happened’.
“There was a really ferocious fire at the back of the house. I said to the man next door, ‘you are going to have to come away it is too dangerous’.
“The back of the house was alight and the man’s wife has come from the side of the house.”
Neighbours help comfort the woman and it is understood she was taken to hospital by ambulance.
Retired clergyman Tony Meakin, 88, who lives opposite, said he and his, wife, Ann, 82, had just settled down to watch television when fire broke out.
He said: “There was tremendous smoke and then we began to see the flames. It was a very fierce fire.”
Neighbours said the man who died was retired but had also worked as a delivery driver and took his grandchildren to school.
Mr Meakin said: “He was always very affable. He worked very hard. He seemed to be in and out all day. We are all quiet numb.”
Mrs Meakin said residents have been traumatised by the shocking incident and the sudden, unexpected death of a neighbour.
She also praised the emergency services for the way they have dealt with the situation, working late into Saturday night.
Mr Cummings added: “It is horrendous, absolutely awful. They were a very caring couple with an extended family and they look after their grandkids.
“They have the grandkids there regularly. He was a genuinely nice bloke.”
DAMAGE: The damaged house. Picture: North News
The outbreak of the fire is the now subject of a joint investigation between the police and the fire service.
Colin Davis, group manager for County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service said: “We had two fire appliances from Consett, one from High Handenhold and one from Tyne and Wear attended reports of a fire in the Oakfields area of Burnopfield. One adult male died at the scene.
“A joint investigation is currently ongoing.”
Police said the fire not being treated as a suspicious.
Inspector Simon Gdaneic, from Durham Police, said: “We have had an unsuspicious fire at the premises.
“We believe it was accidental and a result of that, one person, the gentleman, has sadly lost his life. We think it was a tragic accident.”
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