Girl, 2, dies after Lincolnshire caravan fire as mother and three siblings escape
24 August 2021, 13:42 | Updated: 25 August 2021, 07:07
A two-year-old girl has died following a caravan fire in Ingoldmells - a Lincolnshire village three miles north of Skegness.
Lincolnshire Police were called to a report of a caravan fire at 10:30pm on Monday at Sealands Caravan Park.
A woman and three of her children were able to make it out safely, but her fourth, a little girl, lost her life, the force said.
The woman and three children received medical attention at hospital and have since been released.
During the incident, around 50 people were asked to leave caravans in the immediate vicinity of the blaze and were able to go to emergency accommodation created at the Laver Leisure site.
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THREAD: Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue were called to a static caravan on fire in Ingoldmells last night. On arrival our five attending crews found that the fire was already well-established and aggressive firefighting was needed to extinguish it.
— Lincs Fire & Rescue (@LincsFireRescue) August 24, 2021
Matt King, Divisional Commander for East Division at Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, said: "Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the family at this time.
"Our Fire Investigation Team will be working with CSI colleagues from Lincolnshire Police to complete a full investigation into the cause of the fire.
"All firefighters have been offered welfare support, and once investigations are complete, local fire crews and our community fire safety team will be on hand to talk to people in the area and address any fire safety concerns, at what will be an upsetting time."
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Detective Inspector Jo Fortune, senior investigating officer, said: "This is a devastating incident for all involved.
"We are in the very early stages of our investigations and the circumstances which led to the fire are not yet clear.
"We will be working closely with specialist teams to understand what happened.
"We would like to appeal to anyone who was there last night and has not yet spoken to police to come forward, and for anyone with video footage to please share that with officers to add to our intelligence of the incident.
"This is particularly harrowing, with a family losing a child, and we'd ask that people remember those victims and not share footage online."
Police said an investigation team would be at the scene throughout the day, carrying out initial stages of the inquiry.
Anyone with information or video footage of the incident can contact the force via their non-emergency number 101, quoting incident 469 of 23 August, or through the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
