Death of woman in Buckley house fire was accidental, inquest told

John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales (east and central), addressed a hearing in Ruthin into the death of Janet Atherton – a finance director originally from the Lancashire area.

The inquest heard that Mrs Atherton, 62, died of multi-organ failure - caused by burn injuries and smoke inhalation - after a fire broke out at her bungalow on Burntwood Road, in Buckley, in the early hours of Wednesday, May 29.

Her partner of 17 years, Claire Morris, attended the inquest hearing along with family members and friends.

She described Mrs Atherton as ‘her whole world’ and says that she will continue to be missed dearly as she recalled the night of the fire in her statement.

She said Mrs Atherton had felt tired and gone to bed at about 9pm on the evening before the fire whilst she had fallen asleep whilst watching a TV programme in the lounge.

Mrs Morris was alerted to the ongoing fire by a smoke alarm in the kitchen and dogs barking. She called the fire service at around 2.50am.

Four appliances were tasked with attending the incident – including crews from Buckley, Mold and two from Deeside.

Mrs Morris’s statement recalls how she tried desperately to reach her wife but was overwhelmed by the smoke levels in the bungalow and told by an emergency call handler to get to safety.

Mark Kassab, an investigation officer North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, gave evidence which suggested that the blaze was caused accidentally and originated from electrical devices in the home office – but could not determine if it was an appliance or the wiring as the room was destroyed by fire.

He also offered reassurance to Mrs Morris that it would have been ‘virtually impossible’ to make it to Mrs Atherton without the relevant personal protection equipment that firefighters use.

Mrs Atherton was found lying in a bedroom doorway by firefighters and was carried out of the bungalow before being rushed to Wrexham Maelor Hospital where she later died.