Woman unaccounted for after Exeter house fire
An elderly woman is currently unaccounted for following a house fire in Exeter during the early hours of this morning.
Firefighters from the Devon and Somerset Fire & Rescue Service along with officers from Devon & Cornwall Police attended the scene of a fire in Beacon Heath, Exeter, which started at around 1am.
Initially, five fire appliances tackled the blaze at the single-storey building.
In total, eight fire crews and a special operations team from Exeter worked through the night to get the fire under control.
The building was severely damaged by fire, the roof had collapsed and the walls had partially collapsed, making it unsafe to enter.
By 8:35am, one appliance was still in attendance dampening down hotspots and making sure the fire does not reignite, with a fire investigation due to begin today.
In a statement, Devon and Cornwall Police said: "An 89-year-old female resident remains unaccounted for and a police cordon remains in place. There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding this incident.
"Anyone with any relevant information is asked to contact police by e mailing 101@dc.police.uk or by phone on 101 quoting log 58 05/04/21."
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