A Nottingham house fire killed two people after a tealight ignited a sofa, a coroner has ruled. Paul Cox, 51, and Jennifer Batterbee, 40, died in the house fire in Whittier Road, Sneinton, on March 26 last year.
Firefighters arrived on scene to what was described as a well-developed fire and entered the mid-terraced house wearing breathing apparatus. Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service were alerted to the incident at 12.42am by the couple’s neighbour, who called 999 after hearing noises and seeing an amber glow from the property.
An inquest took place on Thursday (January 19) into the circumstances surrounding the tragedy. The hearing was told how the pair died from smoke inhalation after a tealight set fire to a sofa in their front room. The cause of the fire was ruled as accidental ignition by Fiona Gingell, Assistant Coroner for Nottinghamshire.
