Fatal Chorley house fire referred to police watchdog
A fatal house fire has been referred to the police watchdog as investigations into the cause continue.
The body of Carl Whalley, 57, was found in the debris of his house in Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley, Lancashire, on Friday October 15 after it collapsed from a fire.
Police are looking into suggestions of a "neighbour dispute".
The Lancashire Post reported that Mr Whalley had contacted the newspaper in 2017 and claimed a man had threatened to firebomb his home.
According to the Post, Mr Whalley said he reported the threat to police but no further action was taken.
On Wednesday, a Lancashire Police spokesman confirmed the incident had been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
A post-mortem examination showed Mr Whalley's cause of death was smoke inhalation and burns, the force said.
Detective Chief Inspector Jill Johnston said: "We continue to work through the evidence we have to try and establish the cause of the fire and our inquiries include looking through CCTV footage and other digital media and speaking to witnesses.
"For those reasons it may take some time before we are able to give a definitive cause for the fire.
"I would once again appeal to anyone who has any information and has not yet spoken to police to come forward, and I would ask for anyone with any CCTV, Ring doorbell footage or dashcam footage to get in touch.
"We continue to investigate suggestions of a neighbour dispute and looking into these forms part of our inquiries."
Emergency services were called to reports of a house fire on Kirkby Avenue at 1.20pm on Friday.
The house collapsed around the time crews arrived. Firefighters put out the blaze, which had spread to the property next door, and specialist urban search and rescue teams were deployed to search for casualties.
Anyone with information should contact 101, quoting log reference 0756 of October 15, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.