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Man dies and four injured in fires at nearby homes

Charlotte Benton
BBC News, West Midlands
BBC Forensic officers wearing white suits are outside a house that has been destroyed in a fire. It is a burnt-out shell with views through to the back garden. The forensic officers are working where the front door would have been. Red and white fire tape is outside. BBC
Forensic officers outside the home on Marbury Drive where a man died

A man in his 70s has died and four people were injured after fires broke out minutes apart in two houses on neighbouring streets.

West Midlands Fire Service said crews were first called to a semi-detached property on Lunt Place in Bilston at 02:19 BST on Saturday, before it received a call to a second house fire on the adjoining Marbury Drive at 02:30.

Four people from the property on Lunt Place were taken to hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening, and a man in his 70s, found at the detached property on Marbury Drive, died at the scene, the service added.

West Midlands Police said an investigation was taking place to establish the exact circumstances of the fires.

A resident on Lunt Place said they had been woken up in the early hours of Saturday morning by a loud bang.

"Me and neighbours rushed out, the front door was on fire and the flames went up very quickly," they added.

A firefighter and a forensic officer wearing a white suit stand to the right of a property in a residential street that has been damaged in a fire. The front door semi-detached property has been destroyed and large black streak covers the bricks and the window above the door. There us a police car parked in front of the house and blue police tape has cordoned off the house and the driveway on the right of the property where a white car is parked.
Four people from the property on Lunt Place were taken to hospital

The force added that it was working alongside the fire service and officers remained at the scene.

Forensic officers wearing white suits are outside a house that has been destroyed in a fire. It is a burnt-out shell with views through to the back garden. The forensic officers are working where the front door would have been. Red and white fire tape is outside. In the foreground there is a large vehicle with the word "FIRE" in red on a yellow bonnet.
West Midlands Fire Service is working with police to investigate

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