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Alarms called for after OAP’s death

17/ 9/2008

A CORONER is to write to a housing association over the issue of smoke detectors following the death of a pensioner in a fire.

An inquest heard that Eugene Pakiet, 77, died when his flat in Burlington House, Burlington Street, Ashton — owned by New Charter Housing Association — was set alight by a discarded cigarette end on 26 March.

The alarm was raised by resident Matthew Dickinson who noticed smoke in a communal area and felt heat coming from Mr Pakiet’s door. Mr Pakiet was rescued by firefighters but died soon after arriving at hospital.

The court heard from pathologist Dr Dickens that Mr Pakiet died from carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of smoke inhalation, made worse by a history of heart problems.

He said that Mr Pakiet would have found it difficult to leave the flat as he suffered from arthritis and had ‘moderate’ amounts of alcohol in his blood.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, deputy coroner Joanne Kearsley, said: "I am surprised that there were not smoke alarms in the communal areas. The lack of communal fire alarms is something that I intend to raise with the housing association."

She added: "It was fortunate that this fire was spotted by someone who alerted all the residents and called the fire brigade."

Speaking after the inquest, Mr Pakiet’s son, Robert, of Denton, said: "It was a good thing that the issue of smoke detectors was raised as the fire could have been a lot more dangerous. If there had been smoke detectors, perhaps they could have got him out of there faster and it wouldn’t have led to the death of my dad."

David Rigby, of New Charter Housing Association, said: "We are aware of circumstances surrounding the fire in the flat which sadly led to the death of the resident. We also understand the fire service had tried unsuccessfully to get into this flat to do a free fire safety check for the resident. As we were not invited or represented at the inquest, it would be inappropriate to comment further until we have the coroner’s letter."