Woman found dead in home after fire started by cigarette

A woman who died in a blaze at her home may have fallen asleep while smoking, an inquest heard. Fire crews forced entry to April Baker’s home in Sharon Crescent, Walderslade, last June after her carer saw smoke coming from the bungalow. They found the 74-year-old’s body in her arm chair.

Her pet cat also died in the blaze. Miss Baker had very limited mobility and extremely poor eyesight and would spend most of her day in that armchair in her front room - even sleeping in the chair at night. Although she could get up with difficulty and move around her home using a walking frame, she would often bump into things because of her poor eyesight.



Miss Baker was on the books of Medway Council’s adult social care team and had a package of three care visits daily provided by Agincare UK Ltd. On June 10 last year, Tina Fagg, one of her regular carers, had visited her, helped her to the toilet, served her fish pie for lunch, and shared a cup of tea and a chat with her about Dirty Dancing and Elvis Presley. She left Ms Baker, who was a heavy smoker in her chair at about 1.

30pm, with six or seven cigarettes. Earlier that morning, Ms Baker, who lived alone, had also been visited by her niece Lisa Cook. When the evening carer called at the property at around 5.

30pm, she noticed smoke coming from the terraced bungalow and called the fire service. On forcing entry to the building, firefighters found the body of Ms Baker still sitting in her chair, which had caught fire. Post-mortem and toxicology reports showed that Ms Baker had raised levels of carbon monoxide in her body, which were high enough to make her unconscious.

Her death was caused by the severe burns she had suffered. Firefighters also found the body of Ms Baker’s pet cat in the kitchen. The inquest heard that Ms Baker, a retired cleaner, had only moved the Sharon Crescent property about seven weeks earlier from her former home in Kingston Crescent, Chatham.

At the previous property, she had been given six visits from the Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) community safety team advising on fire risks, and she had been issued with a flame-retardant fire blanket to either wrap herself or to sit on in her chair. But on one of the visits, officers noted that she was not using it. The visits had begun after neighbours to the first property raised concerns when they had had to call the fire service after Ms Baker had dropped a cigarette there, causing a small fire.

Ms Baker was due to receive another visit at her new property, but that had not happened before her death. The flat was fitted with two fire alarms and a heat detector, and fire crews said they heard one alarm sounding when they entered the property. However, neighbours had not heard an alarm from outside.

Police Sergeant Elisha Sarpong had investigated following the death and had found no reason to suspect any third-party involvement. Lawrence Pater, a fire scene investigator with KFRS, said two fire tenders had responded within seven minutes of catching the 999 call. The bungalow had been filled with smoke, but the actual fire had been contained just to the central area around the armchair.

His opinion was that a dropped cigarette had at first only smouldered, before setting fire to the upholstery on the armchair and then to Ms Baker’s clothes. The fire alarm in the lounge could not be tested because it had melted in the flames. However, the landlord, mhs homes, said that all the alarms had been tested just two months before.

The coroner, James Dillon, noted that Ms Baker had been issued with a Lifeline alarm around her neck, but had not activated it, leading him to believe she had lost consciousness before the flames started. He concluded that Ms Baker’s death had been misadventure, caused by a lit cigarette starting a smouldering fire that later burst into flames. He said Ms Baker had likely been overcome by the carbon monoxide fumes and died as a result of the burns she suffered.

No family members were at the inquest..