Double fatal house fire in Park Road, Hamer

Date published: 21/12/2005

At approximately 8.25am, Wednesday 21 December 2005, officers in Rochdale responded to reports of a fire at a property in Hamer.

The Fire Brigade extinguished the fire and one person was pronounced dead upon their recovery from the property, which is on Park Road. Paramedics attended and provided treatment to a second person, but they were also pronounced dead at the scene.

The victims have been identified as 47-year-old Bernadette Hines and 67-year-old Peter Riley.

At present the cause of the fire has not been established and officers are working with colleagues from the Fire Brigade to establish the circumstances.

Local resident, Jim, who lives opposite the property, described what he saw of the incident. He said, "I went out at six o clock and when I came back at half past eight the police were outside the house. They tried to get in but couldn't get through the door. They broke the door down and a lot of smoke came out - the fire brigade turned up and the bodies were taken out."

It is believed that an elderly neighbour alerted the police after his smoke alarm was continuously set off by the smoke of the fire.