The house fire that killed a woman in the early hours of Saturday morning was deemed to have been not started deliberately, say police. The authorities were called to the incident on Willersley Lane in Cromford at about 3:20am on Saturday, January 14.
The victim was a 91 year old woman who lived alone. A joint investigation by Derbyshire police and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service determined that the fire was likely caused by faults with electrical wiring within the property and was completely accidental.
The investigation also found that there were no smoke alarms fitted at the house. Fire safety officers will now visit homes on the street this week to speak to residents about fire safety and to check they have working fire alarms.
The house was semi-detached but, the neighbours only rang the fire brigade in the middle of the night after being woken up by the smoke from the fire coming into their room from next door. When the fire brigade arrived it was too late as the fire was described as “well-developed”. Neighbours were told to evacuate also.
