Two young children have died after a house fire tore through a property on Mason Street in Wolverhampton on Friday night. Emergency services were called to the scene at around 8.30pm and firefighters entered the burning building wearing breathing equipment to reach the children inside. Despite administering advanced life support at the scene both children were pronounced dead. West Midlands Police confirmed the deaths shortly after.
Two other children and a woman had left the property before emergency services arrived. Paramedics checked all three at the scene but none required hospital treatment.
The house sustained extensive damage in the blaze. Police erected a cordon around the property on Friday night and it was expected to remain in place for a considerable period while investigators work to establish how the fire started. No cause has been confirmed and no arrests have been made.
West Midlands Police said in a statement to Sky News that their thoughts were with the children's loved ones and all those affected by what they described as a heartbreaking incident. Officers have asked anyone with information about the fire to come forward and contact the force directly.
The tragedy has landed hard in a city that has already faced a difficult few weeks. Wolverhampton and the wider West Midlands area have featured in several serious incidents in recent months and Friday night's fire adds to a sense of grief that has settled over parts of the region.
House fires involving children remain among the most distressing categories of emergency that fire and rescue services respond to. Firefighters arriving at a scene where children are inside a burning building face extreme pressure to act fast in conditions that are dangerous by definition. The outcome in Wolverhampton despite the speed of the response and the bravery of those who entered the property was the worst possible one.
The identities of the children have not been released and their ages have not been confirmed publicly. The investigation into the cause of the fire is in its earliest stages and police have indicated there is no set timeline for its conclusion.
