Llangammarch Wells: Fire which killed six 'started near log burner'

A fire which killed a father and five of his children in Powys started near a log burner, an inquest has heard.

David Cuthbertson, 68, and his children aged from four to 11, died when the blaze tore through their farmhouse near Llangammarch Wells on 30 October 2017.

Three children, aged 10, 12 and 13 at the time, escaped the fire.

Concluding that all six died from smoke inhalation, the inquest in Welshpool found that the cause of the fire remains unknown.

Retired builder Mr Cuthbertson, who was born in Scotland, died alongside his sons Just Raine, 11, Reef Raine, 10, and Patch Raine, six, and his daughters Misty Raine, nine, and Gypsy Grey Raine, four.

Tributes were left at the bottom of the driveway to the destroyed home

Dyfed-Powys Police is still investigating the blaze at the remote Poityn Farm, but the force told the Coroner Andrew Barkley that it was not a criminal investigation.

Fire investigator David Hancock said copper pipes that fed a radiator in the house had melted, noting that copper pipes have a typical melting point of around 1,085C.

Mr Hancock said his team had found a number of possible causes of the fire, including candles, 'daisy-chained' extension leads, the log burner doors left open and that the fire guard had holes in it.

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Free Robyn Terry, 23, sister of the children who died, told the inquest that one of her siblings who escaped had told her that the fire had started downstairs in the front room by the log burner.

Ms Terry said the farmhouse was old and had not been well looked after and that the main heat source was a log burner in the main living room - known as the red room.

Mr Cuthbertson would get someone in to clean the chimney but only when it got smoky inside the living room, Ms Terry added.

David Cuthbertson lived at the house with his children

He also said that his father had a nightly routine which was meant to ensure that the fire was out before he went to bed.

The inquest heard how two children managed to escape the fire by climbing out of a skylight window, while a third escaped through the front door.

Mr Cuthbertson's daughter Leaf was the last to go to bed on the night of the fire at about 10:45 GMT, the inquest heard.

Three children, 10, 12 and 13, escaped the fire

She told police that the fire in the log burner was dying down when she went to bed but woke up about an hour later to find the house full of grey smoke.

She woke her father and tried to wake other children before climbing out through the skylight along with her sibling Blue, 12.

The fire gutted the entire building

After speaking with the owner of the farm, Mr Davies, who lived in a caravan nearby, she said she saw her brother Farr, who had escaped through the front door, walking towards her.

A mountain rescue team was used to search the land around the house for anyone who had managed to escape the fire and who needed medical treatment.

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PC Philip Saunders said he had seen fire officers, two of whom were related to the family, clearly affected emotionally.

The radiated heat was so "enormous" that it caused the roof, floors and walls inside the building to collapse, Roger Smith, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service crew manager, told the inquest.

Retired builder Mr Cuthbertson lived in the rented farmhouse with his children and was described by friends as a "charismatic and utterly charming" man, who was devoted to his family.

A memorial arbour and bench were paid for from donations made by the people of Llangammarch and other communities in the area