Emergency services confirm man found dead at scene of Northampton house blaze

Emergency services have confirmed one man died in a house fire in Northampton on Sunday (March 20).

The body of the victim, said to be in his 30s, was found outside one of three properties after up to 40 firefighters rushed to the blaze in Olden Road, Rectory Farm, at just after 1.30pm.

Crews from as far away as Rothwell stayed at the scene for more than ten hours.

Initial investigations to determine the cause of the blaze started late on Sunday night while firefighters returned to the scene on Monday morning alongside police officers to continue those investigations.

Station Manager Ronnie Rochester, who attended the fire, said: “Our immediate thoughts are with the family and friends of the gentleman who sadly died at the scene.

“This was a very harrowing incident for both our firefighters and the members of public who witnessed this.

"We will be offering welfare support to our firefighters and will also do our best to help anyone else who witnessed it.

“We would like to extend our thanks to those members of public who quickly alerted our control room and provided us with important information which informed our response.”

Crews from The Mounts, Mereway, Wellingborough, Rushden, Brixworth and Rothwell found one property well alight with smoke billowing from three more neighbouring properties.

Firefighters used breathing apparatus to tackle the flames and search inside all the properties. The blaze was thought to be out by 3pm yet thermal imaging cameras identified a small pocket of fire flaring up in a roof space FOUR HOURS later.

Rectory Farm Road was closed and electricity supplies were cut off to a number of nearby properties while firefighters tackled the blaze.

A local community centre was opened as shelter for families evacuated from their homes.

Local councillors have pledged to help families affected by the fire.

James Hill, who represents the Billing & Rectory Farm ward on West Northamptonshire council, tweeted: "I am utterly devastated to hear of the news that has happened in our community today.

"Your local councillors will be working hard to ensure that we support all the families affected by these events."

■ UPDATE: This article has been edited to change the age of the victim in accordance with information from Northampton Fire & Rescue Service.