George Blakeson was a fire inspection officer who conducted investigations into two conflagrations in and around vicinity of Coronation Street. The first was in March 2013 when a major fire erupted at the Rovers resulting in the death of firefighter Toni Griffiths. George looked over the remains and, although he wasn't supposed to discuss or speculate on the matter, he told colleague Paul Kershaw that the fire started in the cellar and was probably electrical. As Jason Grimshaw had been doing work down there, the finger of suspicion pointed at him though Karl Munro later confessed to beginning the blaze deliberately in an effort to get back at his ex-partner Stella Price, the landlady of the pub.