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Boxing Day cottage fire
A house fire in the early hours of Boxing Day (around 3am) gutted a mid-terrace Cotswold stone cottage on Brimscombe Hill, near Stroud, Gloucestershire.
“A mother and her two children have died after a house fire in Brimscombe Hill, near Stroud, Gloucestershire, in the early hours of Boxing Day (26 December).”
The blaze killed a mother and her two young children, reported as a seven-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy, and left the father, a serving Gloucestershire police officer, seriously shaken after desperate attempts to rescue them.
Emergency crews found the fire well-established on arrival and said the family were awoken by the blaze.
Investigators have said the fire appears to have started on the ground floor and is not being treated as suspicious while inquiries continue.
The property suffered major structural damage, with reports of roof, ceilings and stairs collapsing.
Recovery work has been slowed because parts of the building remain unstable.
House fire rescue attempts
Multiple sources describe harrowing rescue attempts by the father: he smashed a bathroom window and made repeated efforts to reach the children's rear bedroom but was driven back by the intensity and heat of the blaze.
He was later treated in hospital, while witnesses and detectives described his anguish and neighbours reportedly tried to restrain him as the house became engulfed.
Firefighters and police attended within minutes but were unable to save the family, and crews worked through dangerous conditions to recover victims and make the scene safe.
Fire investigation and casualties
Investigators believe the fire started on the ground floor.
“A woman in her 30s and a child’s body were recovered at the scene; the roof, ceilings and stairs of the mid-terrace Cotswold stone cottage have collapsed.”
Police are not treating the incident as suspicious.
Precise details such as the mother's age and the family's names vary between outlets.
Several local and national sources describe the mother as being in her 30s or 40s.
Some tabloids and image-focused sites publish specific names and ages; for example, Daily Mail and UK News in Pictures give the mother's name as Fionnghuala 'Nu' Shearman and ages for the children.
Recovery of one child's body has been confirmed by many outlets.
Other outlets note that teams remain working cautiously to recover the second child because of structural instability.
Community reaction to tragedy
Local officials, emergency services and neighbours described the incident as a tragic loss for the community and urged support for those affected.
Police said colleagues and local representatives expressed sympathy while fire and police services continued investigations.
Some outlets included human-interest details; for example, the Daily Mail noted the mother ran a small bag business and local MPs and community figures were quoted offering condolences in regional reporting.
Evening and local papers underscored the scene's shock in the small community.