Cameron House fire victims cut arms trying to escape

Richard Dyson, left, and Simon Midgley, right, died in the Cameron House fire

Two men who died in the Cameron House fire cut their arms trying to escape from the flames, an inquiry has heard.

The blaze at the luxury Loch Lomond resort in 2017 claimed the lives of Richard Dyson, 38, and his partner Simon Midgley, 32, from London.

A Fatal Accident Inquiry heard from the forensic pathologist who carried out post-mortem examinations on the men.

Dr Julie McAdam told the hearing about "incised wounds" on Mr Midgley and Mr Dyson's arms.

She also said they both died from inhalation of smoke and fire gases due to the hotel fire.

The inquiry at Paisley Sheriff Court previously heard that the men had attempted to smash a double glazed window with a picture frame, breaking one layer of the glass.

Dr McAdam agreed their injuries were consistent with this.

The fire tore through Cameron House Hotel on 18 December 2017

The inquiry also heard from the firefighter who discovered Mr Dyson unconscious in the corridor.

Firefighter Philip Douglas, 35, told the court that visibility was poor and colleagues were sweeping the floors and walls with their hands and feet to assess the situation.

He said: "I kicked what I thought was a bit of debris from the hotel. But I realised at the time it was actually the leg of a person.

"It became apparent it was a casualty. There was no visibility at the time. I tried to put my torch on but I couldn't see anything."

Mr Douglas told the inquiry firefighters had previously been told to evacuate the hotel over fears of the building collapsing.

He said when he returned, conditions at the stairwell where the couple were found had worsened to the point he could not see his hand in front of his face.

The inquiry was also shown photographs of the cracked window and the belongings left by the men as they tried to escape.

Finding men 'primary objective'

Paul Stewart, 50, was the fire service's deputy assistant chief officer on duty on 18 December, the morning of the fire.

He arrived at the scene just before 08:00 and heard Mr Dyson and Mr Midgley were unaccounted for.

He told the inquiry the "primary objective" was to locate the two men.He said: "During the incident, I appointed a roll call officer on arrival in order to gain as much information we could about people who were missing.

"My faith and trust in the commander doing that was fairly sound."

• Guest crawled through smoke to escape hotel fire

• Hotel fire victims tried to smash window to escape

• Cameron House guests tried to save trapped family

The fire took hold after night porter Christopher O'Malley left a plastic bag of ash in a cupboard containing newspapers and kindling.

Cameron House was ordered to pay £500,000 after admitting to breaches of fire safety rules.

O'Malley admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was given a community payback order.

The Crown Office initially said a fatal accident inquiry was not needed because the circumstances of the fatalities had been established - but a review overturned the decision after Simon Midgley's mother, Jane Midgley, called for wider lessons to be learned.

A coroner in England ruled that the couple were unlawfully killed and raised concerns that he had not been allowed access to documents and CCTV footage by Scottish authorities.

The inquiry continues.