Coroner questions materials used in mobile homes after man dies in blaze

A CORONER has questioned the materials being used to make mobile homes after a man burned to death in a fire.

Columba Doherty had been celebrating a 21st birthday party when he returned home to his mobile home in Brinaleck, Gaoth Dobhair, Co Donegal, on January 31, 2008.

However, only the shell of the mobile home belonging to the 29-year-old handyman was found the next morning at 7.30am.

An inquest into Mr Doherty’s death at Letterkenny Coroner’s Court heard how it was likely that the blaze was caused by a cigarette which had fallen onto bedclothes.

Mr Doherty’s injuries were so bad that he could only be identified by his dental records and by a watch on his hand which his sister Ann McFadden identified.

Pathologist, Dr Gerry O’Rourke, said death was caused by carbon monoxide poisoning brought on by smoke inhalation as a result of a fire.

“If he had been sleeping it meant that he would have simply gone into a deeper sleep-like state when the fire broke out,” said Dr O’Rourke.

Garda Forensic Crime Scene Investigator John Harkin said there was only a shell left of the mobile home.

“Because there was no concrete on the internal walls, the fire would have spread very quickly,” he admitted.

Coroner John Canon said he did not mind if the 10-person jury added a “rider” to their verdict making suggestions on the materials used to make mobile homes.

He said “My main concern is what materials these homes are made of. It seems on this occasion that there is little indication that there was a caravan there at all apart from the concrete foundation.

“It seems that the materials used are very flammable and this mobile home went up like a tinderbox. The intensity of the heat must have been huge.

“It seems like these homes offer very little protection in the case of a sudden fire,” he said.

The jury returned a unanimous verdict of accidental death.