Tributes paid to parents killed in house fire as their toddler fights for life

The family of two parents killed in a house fire in Blackpool have paid tribute to their ‘much loved’ relatives who will be ‘sorely missed’.

The man and woman, now named as 28-year-old Joshua Pearson and 24-year-old Danielle Bamber, died after a fire in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Their two children, aged six and 20-months-old, were hospitalised where the 20-month-old remains in a ‘poorly’ condition.

A tribute from Joshua’s family issued by Lancashire Police said: ‘Joshua was a much-loved son, that will be sorely missed, who adored his girlfriend and children.’

While the force said the female victim is yet to be formally identified, they said it was believed to be Danielle Bamber and shared a statement from her family.

It read: ‘We as a family are devastated by what has happened to Danielle our daughter and her family.

‘Please allow us respect as a family to grieve in peace and refrain from any further speculation on social media and to refrain from posting further pictures of Danielle and her family. Please respect our wishes at our time.’

The six-year-old child was not seriously injured, the force added.

Kara-Marie Pearson told how her partner, Jake Hartill saved the older child from the flames after smashing a glass panel in the front door of the house.

The couple, who live on the same street, were woken up at around 2.30am by an ‘almighty bang’ and saw the entire downstairs of the house was engulfed in flames.

They were unable to help the other occupants of the house, with Kara-Marie explaining: ‘All I could hear was the dad screaming out “Help! Help! Help!”

‘Me and my partner, we’ve ran down, the first thing he’s done is, he’s got a bat and he’s smashed the window in the door and as he’s smashed it, the little boy was behind it, he’s lifted him out and got him out, while the dad’s still screaming upstairs.

‘And obviously Dad had stopped shouting at this point, so smoke must have got to him.

‘Obviously the fire brigade and that just come, but we could only get that little boy out. Mum, dad and the baby, we couldn’t get out it was too dangerous.’

Police say they haven’t found any evidence that the fire was started deliberately, but their investigation is still ongoing.

Chief Superintendentt Mike Gladwin said: ‘My thoughts today are with those impacted by this tragic event.

‘This is an absolutely heartbreaking incident which has resulted in two people losing their lives, and two young children losing their parents. One of those young people remains very poorly in hospital.

‘Our work to try and understand exactly what has happened to cause this devastating fire is ongoing and when we are in a position to give further updates we will do so, but as I’m sure people will appreciate this may take some time.

‘I know news of this incident will have deeply affected people in the local area and further afield and I would like to thank the community for their support and understanding.’

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