A caravan fire that killed a two-year-old girl started from a cupboard where the boiler had not had its gas safety certificate renewed for five months, an inquest has found. The tragic incident led to the death of toddler Louisiana Brooke Dolan, who was from Newark, but on holiday with her family at the time.
Despite the boiler not having a renewed certificate, the coroner could not rule for certain that the boiler caused the fatal fire on Monday, August 23, 2021, in Sealands Caravan Park, Ingoldmells. At the time, Louisiana's mother, Natasha Broadley, was in the shower when she smelled smoke and watched the boiler go up in flames reports Lincolnshire Live.
However, on Thursday, April 20, 2023, Lincolnshire coroner Lindsay Tasker said: "The evidence just isn't there to establish the cause of the fire." Concluding an inquest into Lousiana's death, Ms Tasker spoke directly to Miss Broadley, saying: "I am sorry, for you, I have not been able to give you that answer".
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Tearfully, Miss Broadley replied: "I can't spend the rest of my life not knowing" and bravely added: "I won't give up". The coroner ruled the cause of death as being inhalation of the products of combustion, labelling the incident as a "tragic accident".
Miss Broadley was tearful throughout the inquest and expressed her anger that the boiler wasn't being explicitly blamed. Station manager at Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service, Karl Foxall, gave evidence during the inquest, during which Miss Broadley along with friends and family, asked Mr Foxall to clarify where the fire started from.
Mr Foxhall said: "It definitely started in the cupboard but what we can't categorically say is that it was from the boiler. On the day of the fire, Miss Broadley had called the owner of the caravan to check the boiler regarding her concerns over it and the court heard that the owner's son came to look at it.
It was heard that the igniting button on the boiler didn't work and had to be lit using a long lighter. Mr Foxhall said the owner's son was given the long lighter by one of Miss Broadley's children, as it was in the kitchen.
It was shortly after the owner's son left that Miss Broadley smelled smoke while in the shower and got her three eldest children out of the caravan, but tragically Louisiana was unable to be saved. The senior investigating officer of the indecent, Detective Inspector Jo Fortune, of Lincolnshire Police, stated: "There was no deliberate ignition."
She added: "The gas safety certificate was out of date by five months." Lincolnshire Police made enquiries with the Crown Prosecution Service about the possibility of charging the caravan owner with manslaughter by gross negligence.
DCI Fortune told the court: "The difficulty is we can't get that element of whether there was a fault in the boiler that [the caravan owner] should have known about and got fixed". A statement from Lousiana's grandmother Donna Broadley was also read out at the inquest.
She said the toddler enjoyed being with her family and "loved the attention" of being the youngest. On the day of the fire, when Louisiana was on holiday with her siblings and mum, she had sausage and chips before being put to bed.
Her grandmother said: "Sadly, this was her last day but she spent it doing what she loved. That was being with her mum, brothers and sister".
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