A FLAT fire in which a man died is believed to have started accidentally.

The victim, who was in his 30s and has been named locally as Craig Pearson, was taken to York Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The blaze broke out at a block of flats in North Lane, off Thanet Road, in Dringhouses, at about 12.50am today.

Police, fire and ambulance attended the scene after a call from a member of the public and the flats were evacuated.

A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said this afternoon that the fire investigation was ongoing but the cause was believed to be accidental.

She said three fire engines from Acomb and York were sent to the scene and on their arrival, fire crews found a fire in a flat.

"One casualty was rescued from the building and taken to hospital by ambulance."

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: "The police and fire services are making enquiries to establish the cause of the fire, which is at this time unexplained."

Local resident Ann Jackson said: "I was woken by the fire brigade arriving at about 1am. I could see the flames right up to the ceiling of the flat and the windows were out.

"The fire fighters were using their hoses from the grass below. I saw the man being taken away on a stretcher. I only saw him yesterday walking past. He had lived here quite a while. I have lived here seven or eight years and he was here when I arrived. he was a quiet man."

A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said she was woken by banging at around 12.50am

"My windows were shaking, I thought someone was trying to break into my house," she said.
The woman, whose home overlooks the fire-struck house, said her room was lit up by the flames.

"I could see black smoke coming from the windows," she added.

Another local resident, who didn't want to be named, said it was "a real shock" to learn the fire had been fatal.

The fire was in a two storey block of flats at the corner of a cul-de-sac. The gardens around the whole block are cordened off and a police officer is standing guard at the back of the flats.

Police and fire investigators are at the scene now.

Stephen Rodgers, who lives below the flat where the fire took hold, said he had had to spend the night at his parents because of the fire and was not yet being allowed back in, and did not know whether there was any damage to his flat.

“I was woken by a banging noise. I thought at first it was just somebody being noisy and waking me up. Then I heard a neighbour banging on the door of the flat upstairs and came outside and saw the flames and we were told to get back.

"It looked a pretty big fire. We have been told we might be able to get back in by 12pm when they have finished doing what they have to do.”

A Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator who did not want to be named said: “There was a wall of flames coming out from the front of the building. We could see three fire engines, an ambulance and numerous police cars. From the last fire engine two firemen came out with breathing apparatus and then brought somebody out on a stretcher and put him in the ambulance.”

Can you help?

Police ask anyone with information to phone York CID on 101 (then option 2), quoting reference NYP-29042015-0013.