A PENSIONER who died as a result of a New Year's Day blaze at his home was named yesterday as William Stephenson.
The 66-year-old was declared dead at South Tyneside General Hospital, despite attempts to revive him by paramedics after he was found unconscious in the living room of his first floor flat by firefighters.
The fire was so intense that it burned through the living room floor into the ceiling of the flat below, in the complex in Quarry Road, Hebburn, South Tyneside.
Police believe a discarded cigarette may have caused the blaze, which was reported to the emergency services shortly before 5pm on Wednesday.
It is thought that the fire had smouldered for some time before the alarm was raised.
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