DEATHS OF CHILDREN

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 23, 27 July 1944, Page 3

DEATHS OF CHILDREN

EVIDENCE AT INQUEST

That the two children of SurgeonCommander I. B. Ewart, John Matheson Ewart, aged 10, and Janet Mary Ewart, aged 7,. died of injuries received when their home caught fire on the night of June 22. was the verdict of the Coroner, Mr. W. G. -Me.lish, at the resumed. inquest yesterday afternoon. The Coroner expressed the opinion that the children would have been unconscious from the smoke if not actually dead before the flames reached them. Mr. W. E. Leicester represented the parents. Ruby Barbara Hogg, a companionhelp in the household, said she went to bed at about 9 o'clock that evening. She was awakened ,by screams from Mrs. Ewart, some time later and went into the hall. She saw flames spreading along the upper Avail in the halhvay and there .werealso flames upstairs. Mrs. EAvart attempted to go up the stairs, but Avas driven back by the flames. She then ran out the back ddor, AVitness folloAving her. She tried to catch up to' Mrs.; Ewart to' cover her. Avith her - dressing-gown, as she saAv she was.being burned. Mrs. Ewart ran into the back yard and' took a ladder Avhich she placed up to the balcony and' climbed; Witness heard her calling John, but did not hear a reply. . Witness was then taken to a neighbouring house. Superintendent C. A. Woolley said the brigade received the call at 9.56 and sent three appliances. Before he, reached the house he could see a glare Avhich shoAved that the fire had j a good hold. The first appliance arrived four minutes after receipt of the call. The upper floor was Avell alight and flames were breaking out of the roof. . B'rigadesmen Avere using a ladder up to the balcony Avindovv where witness tvas informed the children Avere supposed to be, but found that the smoke inside was so dense that it would have been impossible even for an experi- \ enced brigadesman to enter it and live, so witness ordered a Avater lead brought up the ladder. BARRIER OF FLAME, On opening a back door to try and obtain inside access to the upper floor AVitness met an impassable barrier of flame, so Avork Avas concentrated on the effort to diminish the flames. The officer at the ladder to» the balcony reported that the children were not in the room and witness later Avent inside with a torch to try and locate them. He passed the bathroom twice, but saAv no sign,, and then, realising that tlie bath stood out from the Avail, looked behind and saw their bodies. In his view the children Avere dead before the arrival of tlie brigade. It Avas a tragedy that the brigade was not called earlier, as it was impossible to reach the upper rooms Avhen it did arrive. In his view the fire commenced in the room occupied by Miss McLennan on the ground floor. Mr. Leicester: Is it reasonable to conclude that the children were suffocated before the fire reached them? Witness: Yes. Sergeant G. Innes detailed an investigation of the house. There was an electric heater in the ground floor room occupied by Miss McLennan, and it appeared that the fire had originated in this room or in the cupboard outside it, lie said. Miss McLennan had left the room unattended, but was positive that there Avas nothing near the heater which could catch fire. He had questioned electrical authorities, and Avas told that a heater of this type run off a light fitting Avould carry a much greater load than it Avas intended for, and that this might cause a short circuit. As the electrical leads were all in Avooden conduits it Avas impossible to detect evidence of any short, He suggested that the children had been frightened back by the flames at their door, and instead of trying the doors or tlie AvindoAv to the balcony which Avould have offered them a step on to a bay Avindow below and an easy jump to the ground, they had folloAved the natural course of retreating from the danger until they Avere trapped. The bathroom AvindoAv presented a drop of about 15 feet to the ground, and it was probable that they took the only shelter that seemed available _nd hid behind the bath. They were probably made unconscious by the smoke before they realised the full dangers of their situation. FATHERS APPRECIATION. Mr. Leicester expressed on behalf of Surgeon-Commander Ewart his appreciation of the manner in Avhich the police and the fire brigade had dealt Avith a difficult situation and of the sympathy and consideration extended by them. "The construction by Sergeant Innes is the probable chain of events," said the Coroner. "This older type of house burns very quickly. I don't think the children realised their chance of escaping from the window and took the natural course of retreating as far as possible. It is not necessary for me to determine the point of origin of the fire. It is possible that the use of the radiator from a light fitting may have been the cause, as Sergeant Innes has suggested, but there is no evidence to that effect. "The view expressed that the children were suffocated before the Are reached them is probably the correct i one."