Coroner urges all landlords to install heat alarms
An inquest in Killarney heard how an alarm in a rented house, in which a 28-year-old Lithuanian man died last October, did not have a battery.
A fire in the kitchen at 26 Countess Grove, Killarney, resulted in the death of chef Audrius Kiauna from carbon monoxide poisoning.
The owner of the house, Michael Sheehan, Ards, Fossa, Killarney, said there were four smoke alarms in the house, two of which were connected to mains backed up by battery.
He had put a battery in the smoke alarm in the kitchen about a year ago, but somebody had removed it in the meantime.
Asked by solicitor Pádraig O’Connell, for the late Mr Kiauna’s family, if he had subsequently checked the alarm, he replied: “I don’t think so. I’m not sure.”
Mr O’Connell suggested the jury add a rider to its verdict that there should be regular fire safety inspections of rented houses.
Afterwards He said civil proceedings were being taken on behalf of Mr Kiauna’s parents and sister, Vita.
Having heard lengthy evidence, coroner Terence Casey strongly recommended the introduction of regulations making it compulsory to install heat alarms in rented houses.
He also said the house owners should be obliged to carry out monthly inspections, at least, to prevent unfortunate accidents occurring.
Mr Casey said a smoke alarm in a kitchen was useless because it went off every time somebody cooked.
It was quite possible somebody had removed the battery from the kitchen used by Mr Kiauna for that reason, he felt.
“I would recommend the owner of the house to replace the smoke alarm with a heat alarm. The heat alarm does not go off every time a person cooks, but if there’s a fire it will go off,” said the coroner.
Garda Dan O’Sullivan, Killarney, gave evidence of going to 26 Countess Grove at about 6:10pm, on October 9 last.
He forced the door open and then pushed the sitting room door open as something seemed to be inside it. He saw the body of a man lying on the floor beside a couch.
The body was covered in soot and there was a lot of smoke damage in the house.
In a deposition, Detective Garda James Kennedy said it appeared Mr Kiauna had fallen asleep while using the cooker, which ignited. There was no suggestion of arson or foul play.
A pathologist’s report showed the deceased had 77% carbon monoxide poisoning and an alcohol/blood concentration of 195mg.
The jury returned a verdict of accidental death from asphyxia due to smoke inhalation between October 7 and October 9.
The late Mr Kiauna, who worked as a chef in the Malton Hotel, Killarney, had last been seen on October 6.
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