AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after a woman died in a house fire.

The fire service were called to a house which was on fire on Essex Street in Barnoldswick on Wednesday afternoon.

A search of the house found that an elderly woman had died inside the home.

Four Lancashire Fire Service vans were at the scene yesterday morning along with a police van.

Daniel Kourkoulos, 21, of Essex Street said: “I did not know anything about it like I could not smell anything.

“The only reason I knew there was a fire was that there was fire engines there.

“A lot of people were contacting me on Facebook to ask what was happening saying that a woman had died in a house.

“It is a really sad situation for the family.

“We don’t know who the woman is but it is sad for Barlick as we are a close-knit community.”

Another neighbour Craig Milligan, 45, added: “I was driving down the road and saw it was blocked off.

“I thought it must have been a crash as we get a lot of speeding down here especially in the rain as they slam the brakes on.

“The traffic was held up for a while and they were turning around so they were not stuck.

“But now I know that someone died it is very sad.

“I have seen a woman going into the house a couple of times but this is such a quiet street and you don’t always see people.

“There needs to an investigation to find out whether it was a faulty cable or just a chip pan fire.

“It is still very sad.”

A Lancashire Fire Service spokesman said: “Two fire engines from Colne and Earby attended the house fire.

“Firefighters used six breathing apparatus and one hose reel to extinguish the fire.

“Sadly an elderly woman was found deceased inside the address.

“A man was taken by ambulance to the Royal Blackburn Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

“A joint investigation between police and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service into the cause of the fire is on-going.”