Police name girl, 4, killed in Northumberland house fire

A four-year-old girl killed in a house fire earlier this week has been named as Kiana-Lee Wallace.

Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service was called to an address in Kingsley Road, in Lynemouth, Northumberland, shortly before 21:30 GMT on Monday where Kiana-Lee, known as Kiki, was found inside.

Despite efforts by emergency service workers, she died at the scene.

In a tribute, Kiana-Lee’s family said they are “absolutely broken” and that she remained “the biggest smiling star in our lives”.

A woman in her 20s and a two-year-old girl who were also in the house at the time, both received medical treatment at the scene before being taken to hospital.

The woman remains in hospital, while the young girl has been discharged.

“We are absolutely broken as a family to have lost our beloved Kiki in this way,” the family said, in a statement.

Det Ch Insp Louise Jenkins, senior investigating officer, said the investigation on site continues and the police were “committed to establishing exactly what happened”.

“We are still keen to hear from anyone who has information which may help our enquiries,” she said.

Neighbour Karen Coulson, 58, described the young girl’s death as “absolutely devastating”, adding local residents had tried to help but were forced back by the heat.

“It’s devastating we couldn’t get in to help her. It’s awful,” Ms Coulson told BBC Look North.

“The full neighbours were out trying [to help]. We had neighbours up the top coming down and banging on other people’s doors to try and get them out.

“It was just horrific.”