Neighbours have paid tribute to a 'lovely' and 'very pleasant' elderly woman who died in a house fire in Chilwell. At around 12.30pm on Sunday (July 10), emergency services were called to a house fire in Cator Lane.
A police cordon was put in place between Clumber Avenue and Bramcote Avenue while the incident was dealt with. At the time, neighbours outside of the cordon described hearing sirens and the smell of smoke.
Nottinghamshire Police have since confirmed an 88-year-old woman died in the property. And neighbours living in Cator Lane have paid tribute to her, describing how "she loved minding her garden".
READ MORE: Nottinghamshire Police statement after woman dies in Chilwell house fire
Kaye Ford, 74, said: "I've been living here for around nine years, but I've known her all that time. Her husband died around a year after I moved in, and we've known each other ever since.
"She loved minding her garden, she was just a lovely lady and very pleasant, whenever I saw her we'd say 'hello'. She will be very much missed. She knew so much about Beeston, it's come as a real shock to everyone. It's so sad, it's tragic.
"I've never seen so many fire engines, police cars and ambulance crews all at once, we were inside the police cordon that was set up. When I saw firefighters using breathing apparatus, I knew something was serious.
"The criminal investigation department and forensics have been here to find out what happened. It would have been her birthday next week, too."
Linda Martin, 62, said: "I hadn't seen her for a long time, but we'd always say 'hello' across the street. She lived there before we moved in, and that was around 30 years ago. She was so nice. I was coming back from walking my dog when I saw fire engines and police cars."
Desney Owen, 50, said: "She was the first person that said 'hello' to us when we moved in, as at the time our gardens were connected. I didn't know her too well as she always kept herself to herself and we would rarely see her, but we always said 'hello' to each other when we did.
"My daughter could smell the smoke, and my husband ran out into the garden to see it, and then onto the road to see three fire engines were already there. They taped off a little further down our road and we were in the cordon, we had to sign in and out to be allowed access. We knew then it was quite serious. I just hope it was a tragic accident and nothing untoward."
A joint fire and police investigation is now taking place to establish the exact cause of the fire. Detective Sergeant Katie Hurrell, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "These are tragic circumstances and my thoughts are with the woman's family at this extremely sad and difficult time. We're keeping an open mind while we determine what caused the fire but at the moment there's no suggestion of any suspicious circumstances."
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service area manager, Damien West, said: “On behalf of everyone at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, I would like to extend my condolences to the woman’s family and friends on their loss.
“Thank you to all emergency service personnel on and off scene who have been working on this sad incident as well as the local community for their patience whilst we continue to investigate into the cause of the fire.”
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