Couple die in blaze as rescuers beaten back by flames

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control after they were called out at 6.15am on Saturday.

Next-door neighbour Tracy Allison, 29, woke to the sound of heavy rain and looked out of the window to be greeted by the fire.

Still visibly upset yesterday, she said: “I was looking out at the rain and spotted Anna at her window, I thought she was looking at the rain too but then I noticed the smoke. Anna was hanging out of the window screaming ‘help me, help me’.”

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Mrs Allison took her five-month-old daughter, Mia, and rushed out of her house, covering the baby’s head with a blanket to protect her from the heavy smoke outside.

She said: “I was going to drop the baby around a neighbour’s house across the road and try and come back and smash the window with a hammer or something.

“But by the time I got outside she had stopped screaming, she was gone.

“I will never forget the sound of her cries for help. I haven’t been able to sleep since it happened.

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“I saw them the day before and it was so normal. They were such lovely people.”

Residents feared the couple’s cat, Theo, had also perished in the fire, but he turned up on Saturday evening.

Neighbour Paul Metheringham, 46, who is now looking after Theo, said: “Anna loved her cat and we thought it had died too.

“It’s a small mercy the cat survived. It came back to the house and was stood there looking lost, so I took it in.”

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Several floral tributes had been left outside the house yesterday, while fire investigation teams were still at the property trying to establish the cause of the fire.

Mr and Mrs Crowther, who were both non-smokers, are understood to have had fairy lights around the bannister. The lights as well as electrical appliances are the focus of investigations.

Humberside Fire Group Leader Keith Evans confirmed that both Mr and Mrs Crowther had died at the scene of the blaze.

He also revealed that it is not thought the house had been fitted with a smoke alarm, and added: “I would urge all householders to ensure they have a working smoke alarm in their homes. Our thoughts are with Anna and Victor’s family.”

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