Bed fire killed man

8:10am Saturday 26th May 2007

A BED-RIDDEN heavy smoker was killed after flames engulfed his bed, an inquest at Wallasey Town Hall heard.

John Weir Gray's home in Grange Road West, Birkenhead, was already on the fire service's high-risk register when he was dragged out of the inferno in February.

The 57-year-old suffered from 62% burns and was transferred to a Yorkshire hospital because of a lack of beds in Merseyside.

Coroner's officer Arthur Flower told the court how the former sheet metal worker called firefighters when he realised that his bed that was ablaze.

But his disability prevented him from moving out of his room, which was located in the ground floor converted lounge.

Mr Gray, who was described as a "chronic alcoholic," had accidentally dropped a cigarette down the side of his bed, a fire investigation team discovered.

Giving evidence at the inquest, Gary Hollice, fire station manager at Birkenhead said that in January, the property was fitted with two smoke alarms and the address was put on the high-risk register due to Mr Gray's "infirmity and lifestyle issues."

He recorded the cause of the fire as a "carelessly discarded cigarette."

Wirral coroner Christopher Johnson said that Mr Gray died from his burn injury after accidentally dropping a cigarette, which ignited his bedding.

He said: "I am satisfied that the deceased died as a result of an accident."