A woman believed to be in her early 70s has died following a house fire in Beccles this morning.
Firefighters from Suffolk and Norfolk tackled the blaze which broke out on the first floor of a home in Rigbourne Hill.
A man has also been taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and burns.
Four fire crews – two from Lowestoft South and one each from Beccles and Loddon – were sent to the semi-detached property at around 6.38am.
Suffolk Fire and Rescue's area commander Ian Bowell said: 'When the crews arrived both the male and female casualty were outside of the property.
'The male was suffering from burns and smoke inhalation and he was treated by firefighters and paramedics before being taken to hospital.
'The female who sadly has been confirmed as deceased was found not breathing. We started resuscitation and the paramedics took over with assistance from us and some great effort was put in but sadly she was confirmed dead at the scene.
'Inside the property there was a fire on the first floor believed to be in the bedroom.
'At the same time as carrying out first aid, firefighters entered the building and extinguished the fire. It was extinguished in about half an hour and then we began damping down the hotspots.'
Mr Bowell said a multi-agency investigation started at 9am, involving police and fire into the cause of the blaze.
He said the scene investigation would be concluded today, with the wider investigation continuing throughout the week.
Two ambulance crews, a rapid response vehicle and an ambulance officer attended and treated the two casualties.
An ambulance spokesman said they had taken a man to the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston to be treated for smoke inhalation and burns.
A neighbour who lives opposite the property said: 'The noise of the fire engines woke me up just after 6.30am.
'I could just see smoke coming from the top windows.
'It's not what you expect to wake up to.'
Rigbourne Hill was blocked off for about an hour, but reopened to traffic just after 8am.
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