 Neighbours tried to break into the house to save the children |
Two young girls killed in a house fire started by candles at a Halloween party died by accident, an inquest has ruled. The inquest heard that a sequence of events at the party had led to the deaths of Laura Meadows, seven, and her aunt Mary Meadows, 13, last October.
Fire detectors at the house in Weymouth, Dorset, had been disconnected after being set off by a smoke machine.
Then the electricity meter ran out, and candles had to be used for lighting, which caused the fire.
Laura's father Simon Meadows, 27, and girlfriend Nicola Parker, 25, decorated the house in Corporation Road with foam skeletons and spiders webs and ran the smoke machine to create a 'ghostly' atmosphere at the party for the children and about 20 school friends. After the smoke machine set off two smoke alarms they were disconnected, the Weymouth inquest heard.
But the electricity ran out and the remaining guests at the party began to play cards by candlelight.
Shortly after Mr Meadows and Ms Parker went to bed they were woken by the smell of smoke.
They became trapped in a bedroom with Mr Meadow's children Chloe, eight, Laura and Daniel, five, Ms Parker's child, Bethany, seven, and Mr Meadows's sister Mary, 13.
Mr Meadows jumped from the first floor bedroom window and went to raise the alarm.
A neighbour then tried to smash the front door with a sledge hammer and another brought a ladder.
 Five other relatives were rescued from the fire in which the girls died |
Firefighters rescued the children at about 0300 GMT and first aid was administered at the scene but they could not save Mary and Laura. They both died in Dorset County Hospital of asphyxia due to smoke inhalation.
The coroner for Dorset recorded a verdict of accidental death for both children.
Michael Johnston said: "It seems to me that everything points to one of those horrendous things where everything mitigates in favour of a disaster without anybody realising that there were these tiny signals there.
"They had a party, they had a smoke machine which triggered the smoke detectors so they took them down.
"That would have been all right if the electricity hadn't gone off... so in order to have some light they used candles which were almost certainly the source of the fire.
"Even then if they hadn't been tired perhaps they would have gone round checking all the candles were put out before they went to bed but they were very tired."
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It seems to me that everything points to one of those horrendous things where everything mitigates in favour of a disaster without anybody realising that there were these tiny signals there
