POLICE and fire service experts are investigating the cause of a blaze which claimed the life of a four-year-old boy at a house in Keighley.

Emergency services were called to a house on Sunnyhill Grove, in the Exley Head area of town, yesterday afternoon after smoke had been seen rising from a bedroom window at the rear of the house.

Firefighters worked with paramedics at the scene to try to help the child, who was said to have breathed in a "considerable amount" of fumes during the incident.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed that he had later died in hospital. He was tonight named by police as Nathan Harrison.

A ten-year-old who was also taken from the house is recovering from his injuries.

West Yorkshire's Assistant Chief Fire Officer Dave Walton today spoke outside the home.

He said fire crews from Keighley, Silsden and Bingley arrived at the address soon after 2pm yesterday.

"On attending they found two boys aged ten and four had been brought out of the house," Mr Walton said.

"Both were taken to hospital with serious injuries from smoke inhalation. The ten-year-old is now recovering from his injuries which are not life threatening. Sadly the four-year-old died in hospital.

"The cause of the fire, which was confined to the back bedroom, remains under investigation.

"Initial inquiries are under way with our colleagues in the police to determine the cause of the fire and are at a very early stage.

"Clearly this has been a tragic incident in which a child has lost its life a a full investigation will be carried out."

It is understood that two adults were also taken to hospital after breathing smoke during the incident.

The fire is known to have started in a bedroom at the house, but the cause is not known, though it is understood that initially it was not being treated as suspicious.

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Senior Investigating Officer, Det Supt Simon Atkinson, said: "Initial enquiries are underway with colleagues in the fire service to determine the cause of this fire and are at a very early stage.

"Clearly this has been a tragic incident in which a young child has lost his life and a full investigation will be carried out."

The fire was confined to the bedroom at the house, with only slight smoke damage elsewhere in the property, and it was discovered shortly after Fire Brigades Union members ended their two-hour strike, which started at noon.

Station commander Andy Clayton, of Bingley fire station, said the four-year-old boy in the house had breathed in “a considerable” amount of smoke.

“Our crews worked extremely hard with paramedics on him and he was taken to hospital,” he said.

An inquest will be held in due course to examine the circumstances of Nathan's death.

Mr Walton said there were two smoke alarms in the property, but would not comment on whether they were working properly, or if the fire had started in the boys' bedroom as such details would be part of investigations.