Police are treating the deaths of two young brothers in a house fire as a “tragic accident.”
Firefighters were called to a semi-detached house in Alder Street, Fartown, at just after 2pm on Saturday .
The two boys, aged two and three, were thought to be playing upstairs when the fire started.
They were trapped in a bedroom and had to be rescued by fire crews.
The boys were brought out but were pronounced dead a short time later.
Det Con Simon Thomas, of Kirklees CID, said the incident was being treated as a “tragic accident.”
The family was said to be distraught and were being comforted by relatives.
Police and fire investigators declined to say how the fire started but say there were no suspicious circumstances . There were no working smoke detectors in the house.
A woman and her six-year-old son escaped the house before firefighters arrived.
Fire chief Chris Kirby, of West Yorkshire Fire Service, attended the blaze and said his thoughts were with the family.
He described what happened and said: “We attended the scene and were told by the boys’ mother, who had escaped with her six-year-old son, that two of her children were still inside.
“Our crews worked very quickly to find the fire and extinguish it. They then rescued the boys who had suffered significant smoke inhalation.”
It is thought the boys were taken to hospital but there was nothing that could be done.
Mr Kirby said such tragedies affected firefighters deeply and added: “We would like to stress that our thoughts are with the family at this very difficult time.
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“These incidents are very rare and when they occur there is a huge impact on the family, the community and on crews.”
Mr Kirby spoke about how firefighters cope and said: “There were firefighters with tears in their eyes and they were obviously shaken up.
“Afterwards we went back to base to talk because there is comfort in speaking to one another about incidents like this.
“We always offer staff access to counselling services but we find that our crews are resilient and find comfort in being a team.
“The crews are back on duty today.”
Fire crews will go back to Alder Street today to promote the use of smoke detectors.
“We will be back to conduct interviews,” said Mr Kirby. “Some of our crews, though not necessarily the ones who attended yesterday, will be in the area offering fire safety advice and smoke detector installation to the community.
“These tragic instances are rare but having a smoke alarm can give people that bit of extra time to escape.
“We need to get this message out about the importance of having working smoke detectors.
“We urge people to ensure they have one installed and check that it is working. We would also ask people to check the alarms of vulnerable people who live nearby.”
