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Islington Tribune - by TOM FOOT
Published: 13 February 2009

Flatmate’s smouldering cigarette led to fatal fire

Smoke claims life of restaurant worker as fireball engulfs house

THE careless disposal of a smouldering cigarette sparked a massive fire in a Canonbury block that killed a restaurant worker, an inquest has heard.
Rodrigo Carrillo, 28, died from smoke inhalation after his rented house in Tudor Court, King Henry’s Walk, was set ablaze on October 28.
The Mexican’s flatmate and a friend, both from Spain, escaped before flames ignited the gas supply and a fireball engulfed the building.
St Pancras coroner Dr Andrew Reid said: “Mr Carrillo died as a result of an accident caused by discarded cigarettes.”
The court heard the three-storey house only had one smoke detector on the ground floor.
Fire investigator Owen Neil said: “The fire melted the gas regulator and gas was released into the fire. The origin was the kitchen and the heat would have been about 1,000 degrees. There was only one fire alarm outside the kitchen. I have been told a property of this size should have had a minimum of two and they would have been linked to a heat detector in the kitchen.”
The house in the 1950s block was sold to private owners by Islington Council two years ago.
Private and local authority landlords are not legally obliged to fit fire alarms but must make sure their properties are “fire safe” for tenants.
Arturo Gonzalez Ortiz di Zarate, who was staying in the house, accidentally started the fire after cigarettes he had intended to extinguish in a bowl of pasta at 4am set the downstairs kitchen alight.
The court heard how thick smoke filled the house, triggering an alarm that woke Mr Zarate. He went back to sleep but woke several hours later and ran out of the front door shouting “fiero! fiero!”.
The calls woke his friend Ruben Juan Mulero Jimenez upstairs. He told the court how he smashed his bedroom window and escaped onto a balcony before jumping two floors to safety, breaking his leg.
Through an interpreter, he said: “My room was full of smoke. I smashed the window and jumped out.”
Mr Neil said: “Unfortunately, oxygen coming into the house through the door being open and the window being broken enriched the fire. A resident said that six foot flames started coming out of the window after it was broken. The intensity grew and it melted the gas appliance. This was the reason the house was so badly damaged.”
Dr Reid said: “Mr Carrillo had returned with friends early on October 28. They had drunk beers and smoked some cannabis. They had gone to sleep in separate rooms. One friend had stayed awake and had eaten pasta and smoked more cigarettes. Unfortunately, Mr Carrillo could not escape through the window or downstairs.”
Verdict: Accident.

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