Woman confirmed dead after blaze rips through two Shropshire houses

Five fire crews from three counties fought the blaze in the early hours of the morning in Bucknell, near Clun.

But the fire, which destroyed one bungalow and damaged another in a terrace of three, was so severe that crews had to put it out from the outside and wait for the building to be made safe before entering to investigate.

West Mercia Police say that while formal identification had not taken place, the body was believed to be that of the female owner of the house in Chestnut Meadow in Bucknell.

Alexa Neville, a spokeswoman for West Mercia Police, said officers were supporting her family and the coroner had been informed.

A police forensic team joined Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service for the investigation which stretched into last night.

The fire broke out in Chestnut Meadow in the south west Shropshire village at 5.30am. The cause has not yet been confirmed but it is not believed to be suspicious.

Speaking at the scene John Temple, incident commander for the fire service, said: "It's the middle one of three terraced bungalows, and it has pretty much gone.

"It was approximately 5.30am that the crews first arrived and the fire was fully developed.

"The crew from Leintwardine arrived first and they started to tackle the fire using breathing apparatus and a hose reel jet.

"They were then supported by Craven Arms, Knighton, Ludlow and then Clun.

"At the height of the scene there were eight breathing-apparatus wearers tackling the fire externally due to the unsafe nature of the premises.

"One gentleman got out of the property before the crews arrived.

"He has been taken away by ambulance but for a pre-existing medical condition, not because of the fire.

"No one was rescued. We just don't know at this stage if anyone else was in there.

"This is a joint investigation with the fire service and police, but progress has been hampered due to the structural integrity of the property."

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said two other men were treated at the scene for minor smoke inhalation and discharged without needing to be taken to hospital.

Mr Temple said passers-by had seen a pole carrying cables to the rear of the gutted bungalow sparking around the time the fire broke out, but it is not known if an electrical fault caused the fire, or if it was an effect of the blaze.

A neighbour whose garden overlooks the rear of the destroyed bungalow, but did not want to be named, said she had also seen the sparking pole, and power remained out during the day yesterday as Western Power Distribution engineers examined it.

She said: "I was awake as my husband had got up, his alarm goes off at about 4.50am. It must have been about 5.20am when the bedroom lit up and we heard this awful noise.

"We looked out of the skylight and all we could see was the telegraph pole going up like a firework, it had all these sparks coming off of it.

"I don't know whether it caused the fire or if the fire was already going.

"It didn't seem long before we saw a flame coming up but we thought it was the garden shed – but that's still there. Then it just escalated and got worse and worse."

She said she went to call 999 but heard sirens so knew someone had already done so.

"It shakes you up, it's shocking," she said.