Shropshire Star

Smoker died in fire tragedy at her Telford home

A reclusive elderly woman who died in a fire alongside her dog is likely to have caused the accident herself, an inquest has heard.

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Hilda Mitchell's body was found by firefighters less than a metre from her front door with her dog Leo dead beside her after fire broke out at her Shropshire home.

An inquest heard that Mrs Mitchell, 74, had previously caused a small fire at her home by dropping a match she had used to light a cigarette and it was believed a similar incident could have caused the fire which killed her.

The inquest was unable to determine exactly when she died. Her body was found on the morning of July 24 after the fire had burned itself out. The position of the house in Wellington Road, Donnington, Telford, and the limited size of the fire, meant that no-one saw it happen.

She had stopped leaving her home in the last two years of her life,the inquest was told. Neighbour Gordon Robert Hardy said in a statement that Mrs Mitchell, a widow, had few visitors and had stopped leaving the house two years before the incident.

He said he had begun visiting to clean the house and bring her groceries. It was on one of these errands that Mr Hardy discovered the body of the dog and called 999.

Mrs Mitchell smoked about 300 king size cigarettes a week, he told investigators, and used matches because her fingernails had grown too long to use a lighter.

Fire investigation officer Russ Hales said the house was full of discarded cigarettes, paper, cardboard and bags which had helped the fire to spread.

Coroner for Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin area, John Ellery, yesterday ruled her death was accidental and attributed it to inhalation of fumes and to burns, with heart disease a contributing factor. Heart problems could have led her to drop a cigarette or match or prevented her escaping.

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