Elderly couple killed in house fire despite desperately pressing alarm button

A “kind old couple” were killed in a despite pressing their alarm button after the operator did not hear their .

Caroline Cleall, who suffered from health issues including limited mobility, was given an alarm call button worn on a pendant all day after an earlier hospital stay. When a fire broke out in her home in January 2022 in Addiscombe, near Croydon in south London, she pressed the alarm. However as she was not able to communicate properly she could not say about the fire, and the operator did not hear the blaring noise in the background.

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Her husband, Bernard, also could not help as he was incapacitated by the smoke and both died in the tragedy.

Assistant Coroner Ivor Collett said: “The operator caused Careline responders to attend, but the fire brigade were called only once the responders arrived and discovered the fire.

“By that time it was too late to save the two occupants of the house.”

At an inquest in April their cause of death was given as "inhalation of smoke".

Mr Collett raised concerns Mrs Cleall was not given the enhanced alarm package which included a smoke detector. This would have sent an urgent signal to the call operator without the need for the pendant button to be pressed.

The feature would have resulted in the London Fire Brigade being notified of an emergency immediately, the coroner said. Mr Collett issued a Prevention of Future Death report on May 9 raising further concerns about the assessment of which alarm package patients should be given.

There was no evidence in this case of the content of any assessment, discussion or advice as to the appropriate level of alarm package for Mrs Cleall, he said. He also raised concerns Croydon social care services are not able to access the record of assessments carried out at Croydon Hospital, depriving them of the ability to review patient’s needs properly following discharge into the community.

Speaking after their deaths, one neighbour said: “They are a kind old couple - at least in their late 70s.

“The woman could barely walk. I know the son visits sometimes, but I don’t think he was in.

“I heard the fire engines, but I didn’t think anything like this could happen.

“It’s very sad. It’s tragic. I just don’t want to think about it."

Another neighbour said: “They were at least in their 70s. It's very sad. They always had fairy lights on.

“They seemed like a sweet couple who always liked pottering around in their garden with their . It looks like they lived there for a long time.”