Tributes to “happy, sweet” four-year-old after fire tragedy

Nathan Harrison died in hospital after the fire at a house in Sunnyhill Grove on Monday. He was was one of two children taken from the property by emergency crews.

They were transported to hospital suffering from serious injuries linked to smoke inhalation. Nathan died in hospital while the second child, a ten-year-old boy, was said to be recovering.

Nathan’s mother, Jodie Collins, said: “Our beautiful boy Nathan was the most loving, happy sweet child and he loved everybody.

“He was the closest person to Matthew, his brother, and now he has sadly gone,”

Nathan’s father, Chris Harrison, said: “We all loved Nathan dearly. We are all distraught. He was a beautiful little boy. We will miss him.”

Enquiries are continuing into the cause of the blaze. Residents were yesterday in a state of shock and spoke of how emergency crews took the boy and his brother out of the house on stretchers.

Julie Mitchell, aged 35, who lives next door to the family, heard the boys’ mother crying out for help after the fire started in the back bedroom of their property.

She said: “She was screaming for her little boy. It’s so sad, he was the same age as my little girl.”

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.”

West Yorkshire Fire Service has confirmed that the property was fitted with two smoke alarms, but whether they were operational at the time the fire broke out is still under investigation.