Middlesbrough house fire: Victims named as woman and her niece - as two men arrested

A woman and her seven-year-old niece who died in a house fire near Middlesbrough have been named.

Natalie McDonald, 34, and Valentina Foster were killed in a blaze in Birchington Avenue, Grangetown – under a mile from the site of Saturday's deadly wrong-way crash on the A66.

Cleveland Police have arrested two men, aged 23 and 31, on suspicion of murder following Wednesday's fire, and the force has not ruled out a link between the two incidents.

Local superintendent Emily Harrison said: "We continue to work to establish the circumstances of exactly what has happened, but we are keeping an open mind and cannot rule out any links to wider organised crime at this time.

"We will have a high visibility presence in the Grangetown area as this investigation progresses and to provide reassurance to local communities, who will no doubt be impacted by this tragic incident."

'Scorching' heat at scene of blaze

Pictures from the scene show the roof of one house has been badly burnt and is partially caving in. A neighbour named Ellie, 20, told PA news agency how local residents tried to rescue those in the house.

"The entire house was scorching," she said. "I couldn't get near the front of the house; it was that hot."

A further four people were also injured as a result of the incident: a 48-year-old woman is in hospital in a critical condition, and three people are receiving treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.

Redcar Labour MP Anna Turley said her "deepest condolences" were with the loved ones of those who have died and those who were injured.

"Our community has faced a profound amount of heartbreak over the past few weeks," she added.

"Please keep everyone affected in your thoughts, give the emergency services the space they need, and avoid speculation as Cleveland Police and emergency services continue their investigation."

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The investigation into the A66 crash also remains ongoing.

PCs Matthew Blades, 37, and Tom Clough, 38, were killed in the collision between a VW Passat, which was evading police and heading in the wrong direction on the dual-carriageway, and a marked police vehicle.

An online appeal to help the officers' families passed the £1m mark on Wednesday.

The five people in the Passat – Cole Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak – were pronounced dead at the scene at South Bank.

(c) Sky News 2026: Middlesbrough house fire: Victims named as woman and her niece - as two men arrested