An electrical fault in a heated blanket was the likely cause of a fire which took the life of a Penrith woman, an inquest was told.
Hilda May Lee, 85, of Willow Close, Penrith, died on January 24 as a result of a fire which started in the bedroom of her home.
Police Constable Bell, who is based at Penrith’s Hunter Lane police station, attended the scene at 11.35am and said a fire engine pulled up at the same time.
The property was ablaze with smoke pouring out of the front door and Mrs Lee was believed to have been inside.
Firefighters tackled the flames from inside the building, with neighbours evacuated from their homes and a 100m cordon put in place.
Melvin O’Keefe, operations manager for Beacon Homecare, said Mrs Lee was fiercely independent and her bedroom was off limits for her carers. They were not aware of her use of an electric blanket.
Care worker Bea McGuinness said Mrs Lee was a lovely lady. “She was very private — complicated, sad, happy, all in one visit. She was nice to look after, very pleasant,” said Ms McGuinness.
As part of her care package, it had been agreed that she would be seen on three occasions throughout the day. Ms McGuinness, who was not Mrs Lee’s regular carer, said that she last saw her at about 5.30pm the previous day.
On the day of the fire, Ms McGuinness arrived at Mrs Lee’s home at about 10.20am. She knocked on the door and shouted through the letterbox, but the key was in the back of the locked front door and Mrs Lee always had the chain on, the inquest was told.
Ms McGuinness rang the office to tell them there was no answer at Mrs Lee’s house and it was agreed that she should go to her next call and then return. On her return at 11.25am, she said she could see a wisp of smoke coming out of the top of the door.
“I got a bit closer and I could hear a fire alarm,” said Ms McGuinness. After first calling the office to tell them what was happening, she then phoned the fire service, the inquest heard.
Care manager Julie Birtle, of Beacon Homecare, said in a statement which was read out that she told Ms McGuinness to put the phone down and call the fire service.
Although it was likely that Ms McGuinness rang the office first before the fire brigade, coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I don’t think it makes a difference, given what we know that the fire was raging inside the property at that time.”
Ms Taylor’s conclusion was one of accidental death.
The decisions which were made, were made with the best of intentions at the time, added Ms Taylor.
Mrs Lee, who was born on May 15 1936, grew up near Kendal and moved to Penrith in 1977.
A retired chiropodist, she was a gifted artist and was also very musical, the inquest, held at Cockermouth, was told. Latterly, Mrs Lee had moved from Great Dockray, where she had run her chiropody business, to Willow Close.
Daughter Margaret Lee, who had been in the process of moving back to Penrith to be closer to her mother before the fire, told the inquest: “She was very good at anything she turned her hand to.”
In 2017, Mrs Lee had moved into the Willow Close bungalow following a fall.
