'No safety' at death blaze house

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A rented house where a man died in a blaze had no fire safety measures, an inquest in Cardiff has been told.

Mark Lundrigan, 47, died when he became trapped in his bedroom in the fire in the Roath area of the city in June.

His landlord told the inquest he had considered the house safe, but after the fire was "thinking differently.

Cardiff coroner Mary Hassell recorded a narrative verdict, after hearing there were no smoke alarms, fire blanket or extinguishers in the property.

A second-hand tumble drier was identified in an investigation as the most likely cause of the blaze.

Ms Hassell described how a fire ignited inside the machine when Mr Lundrigan and another housemate put a wet towel inside the drier in the hope it would pick up dirt inside.

I never gave thought that such a serious thing could happen Landlord Rana Rasul

The machine was in a utility room so the drier hose could be fed outside and after watching it operate for a minute the men left the room and within a short space of time a fire ignited.

Ms Hassell said the extension lead connected was not fit for purpose as it could only carry three amps and not the 13 amps the drier required.

The result was this overheated and this caused the fire," the coroner said.

The inquest heard the blaze started about 30 minutes later and Mr Lundrigan' three housemates all escaped.as the flames came into the hallway and up the stairs.

Ms Hassell said the wooden staircase acted as a chimney for the fire,

Bedroom window

But Mr Lundrigan, a father-of-two, was unaware of the fire as his housemates had not called to him and there were no smoke detectors.

"Smoke and flames came at him from inside the house and also from outside," Ms Hassell said.

Mr Lundrigan's girlfriend Amy Dickinson, told how he has screamed on the phone to her:"Please help me, please help me".

Ms Hassell said his bedroom window was above the utility room door which was also alight.

"He could not leave via the window and opened the door in a last ditch attempt to escape, but the smoke and flames were too great and beat him back," she said.

Firefighters reached Mr Lundrigan within 15 minutes of being called, but it was too late to save him. He suffered from smoke inhalation and burns to 20% of his body.

His Landlord Rana Rasul said he had not given his tenants any advice in case of a fire.

He said: "I never gave thought that such a serious thing could happen".

Mr Rasul said the death of Mr Lundrigan whom he considered a friend, had affected him badly.

He said he had considered the house safe, but added:"Now this thing has happened I'm thinking differently".