Inquest: Pennington woman found house on fire and husband trapped inside after popping to see neighbour

A PENNINGTON pensioner who popped to her neighbour for 30 minutes came back to find her home on fire and her husband trapped inside.

Christine Scott told an inquest at Winchester Coroners' Court that she called out to Vincent (84) but when he did not answer she “hoped that he was in the garden at the back”.

As the inquest heard, however, he was later found dead on a sofa in the lounge of the couple's home in Linden Way having been overcome by carbon monoxide.

Fire investigators later discovered the blaze on 11th October 2021 had been started by an electrical fault in an airing cupboard fuse box.

Mrs Scott told how she returned to the couple's bungalow to find “flames shooting up the kitchen window”.

She said: “I could not believe it, I thought it was a film. I shouted at my neighbour, ‘Call the fire brigade, my house is on fire!’.”

Assistant coroner Simon Burge heard Mr Scott had been a fire safety officer for his former employers and had tried to tackle the blaze with a fire extinguisher.

Mrs Scott said: “He was very fire aware; you name it, we had it.”

The inquest heard that Mr Scott had managed to put out the fire in the cupboard but did not realise it had already spread to the loft space.

Fire investigator Terry Fitzjohn told the inquest Mr Scott had been quickly overcome by carbon monoxide, saying: “Three to four breaths and you are on a downward slope, unfortunately.”

When firefighters arrived they found the bungalow full of thick, black smoke. Although Mr Scott was rescued from the home there was nothing that could be done to save him.

The inquest was told that he suffered from vascular dementia but his family said he still managed to live a “full, independent life” and that they felt it had no bearing on his death.

Just before the fire broke out he had taken a shower and dressed in his pyjamas.

It is thought that when he discovered the blaze he used the fire extinguisher to put it out before sitting down on the sofa believing he had been successful.

The fuse box was completely destroyed, so investigators were unable to say what had caused it to burst into flames.

Mrs Scott believed it may have been her husband’s use of an electric shower which resulted in a “power surge” sparking the blaze.

She said she hoped people reading about her husband’s death would realise how deadly carbon monoxide can be.

She said: “I could have been there and the same thing happen to me.

“You need to get out, and get out quickly.”

Her comments were echoed by the coroner who ruled her husband’s death an accident.

Describing Mr Scott as a “brave man”, Mr Burge said: “We all need be more aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide and get out of the way of a fire straight away."