In the early hours of 30th December at around 2am a house fire took hold in a property on Birch Grove, off King Edwards Drive in Harrogate.
At its peak there were 5 fire units in attendance including a high-level platform and 5 police vehicles as King Edwards drive was closed off for a number of hours.
It appears that the fire took hold on the first floor and the roof space and it took a number of hours to bring it fully under control. The aerial platform was taken down a footpath near to the house so that access could be made to the roof and it was seen to smoke for some hours until at around 4am the units began to stand-down.
There have been no formal announcement on this incident by any of the fire or police services in attendance as of 4.30 am 30/12/10
Update 30Dec10 @ 10:45am:-
A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “When officers arrived at the scene, they discovered that a fire was well established. Fire and rescue officers discovered a body in a first-floor room.
“The person has not yet been identified. The man who lives at the property has not yet been accounted for.”
He said a joint police and fire investigation had begun.
The spokesman added: “It is too early to say whether there are any suspicious circumstances.”