Best friends, 14, die on camping trip as fire rips through their shelter

Best friends Daniel Allan and Ryan Steels, both 14, were believed to have been camping in fields near where they lived and broke into the garage of the unoccupied house to warm up.

But the youngsters became trapped inside when fire broke out at around 4 am on Saturday. Firefighters found Daniel's body inside and Ryan died after being taken to a specialist children's hospital burns unit.

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The two were thought to have been with other youngsters during the night and police believe some of them may have been drinking alcohol.

The deadly blaze was started inside the garage and investigators are trying to find out whether they were targetted by arsonists or if the fire had a more innocent explanation and got out of control by accident.

Humberside police said they desperately needed information from children or parents they may have confided in to solve the mystery.

Two people have been arrested and released by police on bail pending further inquiries, but officers refused to disclose further details about them.

Friends of the boys were in tears after being told about the tragedy at a special assembly at their school.

Daniel lived with his mother Michelle, sister Bethany, 13, and brother Kieran, 10, in a house at Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, East Yorkshire, next door to where the fire broke out.

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Neighbours said Ryan was also living there temporarily after a chip pan fire at his home.

One neighbour said the boys were out camping on Friday night in nearby fields and they decided to come home in the middle of the night because Ryan was cold. They went into the garage when attempts to wake Mrs Allan during the early hours failed, said the neighbour.

Michael Cason, 32, who lives on the same cul-de-sac, said he was woken by the fire and raced across to help.

"Michelle was being sick and screaming that her son was in there and the other two children were both crying. I walked towards the garage door and I got about 6ft away from it, the heat was immense but I couldn't hear anyone.

"I thought that if someone was trying to get out I would have heard something. There was nothing I could do. Someone called the fire brigade and they arrived in minutes.'

Police want to find out where the teenagers were and what they were doing between 10 pm and 4 am when the fire started.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Oliver said he was determined to discover the "truth" about this "dreadful incident" and reassured youngsters who may have been with Daniel and Ryan that they were investigating the blaze and not seeking to punish teenagers for under-age drinking.

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Speaking outside the scene of the tragedy, Mr Oliver said: "As a result of people discussing this case, there are children who must know what happened. This may have been reported to parents or teachers at school and I must ask them to contact police if they do know what happened to these boys at this address.

"I think there may be some concerns by young children as to whether they were drinking in public places. I need to say to them this is a search for the truth about what happened.

"If you had been drinking and are concerned about going to the police, please disregard any thoughts of that and realise that we need to find out why these two boys lost their lives."

Mr Oliver said scientists had been examining the scene to find out the cause of the fire and that those inquiries were ongoing.

Georgina Wade, 14, a school friend of the dead boys, said they regularly went in the garage.

She said: "Daniel's shown me the garage before. Nobody lives in the house anymore and when they moved out they didn't leave the garage door locked so Daniel and Ryan would use it to shelter in when the weather was bad. They never abused it - it was just somewhere to stay dry and warm."

Another friend Kelly Brown, 14, paid tribute to the teenagers who were both sports mad. Ryan was said to excel at PE and "loved football," while Daniel played bowls for the under-16 England team, she said.