Two children and woman killed in Cambridge house fire named by police

Police have named the children and woman who died in a devastating house fire.

Gemma Germeney, 31, eight-year-old Lilly Peden and four-year-old Oliver Peden died after a fire engulfed a two-storey maisonette in Sackville Close, Cambridge, at about 1am on Friday.

The children had been rescued from the fire, but later died in hospital. Ms Germeney died at the scene.

A man in his 30s - said to have jumped out of a window with a burnt arm - remains in hospital in a critical condition.

The family's two dogs were also killed in the fire.

Neighbours said they had sometimes seen the kids playing outside on a trampoline with two dogs after school.

Flora Griffin said: "I heard the kids playing out on the trampoline and saw their dog. But no, I didn't know them personally.

"But I have seen lots of their family members coming to pay their respects.

"I did see the local headteacher as well, who was here early in the morning (on Saturday) to check on that and I can only imagine what the school are going through.

"It'll send ripples through the whole community."

She described seeing firefighters sprinting up and down the street and working together to put out the fire.

Another neighbour, Libby Clark, described seeing an injured man: "I just saw a man on the floor with a burnt arm and everyone was saying he's jumped out a window. So he's jumped out the top window to get out."

She said she and her family felt scared when she was woken up by neighbours banging on her door to warn her of a fire next door.

"I knew the kids because every day, when they're back from school, they'd be on the trampoline with the two dogs," she said. "But I don't really know them like that, but it is a sad little story."

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire.

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