A woman faces spending Christmas without her partner and daughter for the first time, after they both tragically died in a house fire. Neighbours rushed to the scene to try and help Caroline Scott’s partner Paul and their daughter Mia escape their home; however it was swept up in a blaze so strong that billowing smoke and flames became too overwhelming for anyone to get the father and daughter to safety.
Lancashire Live reported that the devastating fire occurred on Sunday, May 22 at Toll Bar Houses in Distington, Cumbria. Residents in the area were woken in the early hours of the morning as the blaze raged through number nine, where Paul, Mia, and Caroline Scott had lived since 2006.
Caroline had managed to escape and was shouting for help, as Paul, known as Archie, could be seen in the front upstairs window shouting “help me”, as a gathering crowd of neighbours urged him to jump. One of them, Keith Barton, was reportedly one of the first on the scene. He said that he saw Archie hanging out of the upstairs front window, using a pair of jeans as a makeshift rope.
Witnesses said that Archie's body appeared to be badly burned as neighbours put a ladder against the window. An inquest into the deaths of Paul and Mia was held on Thursday December 22 at Cockermouth Coroner's Court.
Mr Barton’s statement recalled his attempts to pull Archie out of the house. It read: "I went up the ladder, the front upstairs window was open. Archie's head was in the window. It was like he was trying to get to the window but the smoke was too bad.
"I grabbed hold of him under his arms but couldn't get a good grip. He seemed to come to a bit. I got him a bit out of the window. I never heard him speak. He did groan a bit. The smoke was so bad I had to come down for air.
"It felt like forever trying to get him out of the window. The smoke was so thick. Someone came over and said you've done as much as you can. Caroline was in disbelief I don't think she could take it in. They were shouting at Archie telling him to jump."
While Mr Barton was trying to rescue Archie, two passers-by accessed the back of the house in order to rescue Mia. The pair had been on their way to work and stopped at the scene.
It was reported that while at the back of the property, they had climbed onto a single storey extension where they were able to smash Mia's bedroom window with a brick. However, their rescue attempts were hampered by a backdraught causing a series of explosions.
Mr Barton’s wife, Christine, issued a statement about the attempts made to rescue Mia, which read: "We ran round the back. One climbed on the single storey roof. I pointed to Mia's window. He was banging but there was no reply.
"He smashed the window with a brick. The smoke bellowed out like nothing I've seen before. I knew that Mia was not going to be able to get out. He asked how old she was I said 14 and he got upset. Caroline was in shock was saying her whole life was in that house."
Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service carried out a fire investigation, which concluded that the blaze had been caused by Paul Scott throwing a cigarette end into the open fire in the living room. Embers from the fire floated back into the room and ignited flammable materials, including a coal bucket and wastepaper.
The post mortems concluded that both Archie and Mia had died from smoke inhalation, with most of Mia’s burns happening after she passed away. The conclusion was accidental death, with Assistant Coroner Margaret Taylor saying: "Despite their attempts of neighbours, passers-by and the emergency services Mia and Archie died."
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