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Firework link to fatal fire probed

Date: 6/11/2009 20:26:48

Search: Bodmin fatal fire

Investigators are looking into whether a firework posted through the letterbox of a house could have sparked a blaze which killed a mother.

The 59-year-old woman died after becoming trapped in the fire at her three-storey house in Bodmin, Cornwall, on Thursday.

Her 17-year-old son escaped from the blaze in Carpenter Court, Wallace Road, and was taken to Treliske Hospital where he was treated for smoke inhalation and later released.

A passer-by spotted the front door of the house was on fire at about 7.15pm and alerted the emergency services. Crews arrived within six minutes but the blaze had already taken hold.

Firefighters found the woman's body inside the house.

It is thought that she pushed her son from an upstairs window to help him to safety.

Fire and police investigators from the Specialist Fire Investigation Team have so far been unable to gain full access to the house because of safety concerns.

But Steve Halstead, group manager for Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Obviously with it being November 5, the possibility that fireworks were involved is one of the things that we are looking at and that is a factor in our investigation.

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"But we cannot jump to conclusions. We have a very damaged building and we are looking at the fire scene to excavate debris to discover clues."

He said that "arson is always a consideration when you have gone through the other options.

2012 © Press Association

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