Telford house fire deaths were accidental
The bodies were discovered two days after the fire at the houseA father and daughter killed in a house fire in Shropshire died as the result of an accident, an inquest has heard.
Andrew Lineton, 33, and six-year-old Kay-Leigh Cook were found in a house in Briarwood, on the Brookside estate, in Telford, on 3 April.
The pair died from carbon monoxide poisoning when a chip pan fire went unnoticed and burnt itself out two days before the bodies were discovered.
The deaths were recorded as accidental at Telford Magistrates’ Court.
The battery in the smoke alarm had been removed, the inquest heard.
Windows shut
Speaking after the hearing, a spokesman for Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said the deaths could have been avoided.
Fire investigator Andy Griffiths said: “If the cooking hadn’t been left unattended we wouldn’t have had a fire in the first place.
“But even if that had happened then a working smoke alarm would have alerted the occupiers and hopefully they would have been able to make their escape or at the very least call the fire brigade to assist them.
“Every window and door in the house was shut.
“The fire itself didn’t develop into a big fire and therefore it never got out of the property for anybody else to see it.
“The effects of carbon monoxide actually leads people to continue to stay asleep or fall asleep and therefore they weren’t woken and weren’t able to escape from the fire.”