Fireman sent to blaze which killed six was son-in-law of victim
THE son-in-law of a man killed with five of his children in a fire at their farmhouse was among the firemen sent to tackle the blaze, a neighbour said yesterday.
David Cuthbertson, 68, and the children died at their home in Llangammarch Wells, Mid Wales.
Three other children, aged ten, 12 and 13, managed to escape and run to a neighbour’s house to raise the alarm.
Mountain rescue teams and fire crews rushed to the house in a bid to save the family after the fire erupted on Sunday night. Yesterday it was revealed that one of the firemen was Mr Cuthbertson’s sonin-law, David Price, 25.
Neighbour Mary Ann Gilchrist said: ‘What I find so horrific is that one of those responding was his own son-in-law, who is a retained fireman. Can you imagine?
‘David’s children are all so intelligent and sweet.’
Mr Price is a self-employed carpenter and retained fireman with Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue, based in the nearby town of Llanwrtyd Wells.
He married Mr Cuthbertson’s daughter Pia, 24, in a ceremony in Greece last year. During Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Theresa May praised the ‘bravery and professionalism’ of the emergency services who responded to the blaze.
Chris Davies, the Conservative MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, spoke in the Commons of the ‘horrific’ fire and the ‘devastating effect it had had on the family and the tight-knit community’. Mrs May said: ‘This was indeed a terrible tragedy … I know the emergency services did sterling work and I am also pleased to commend the work that they did and their bravery and professionalism in dealing with this issue.’
Neighbours described Mr Cuthbertson as a ‘doting’ father. One local said: ‘We’ve heard he managed to get three [children] out by dropping them from a window. He loved those kids so much he would have been desperate to get them out. But it sounds as if he died in the heat and smoke before he could save the little ones.’
Retired builder Mr Cuthbertson had up to 17 children from different marriages, it is understood.
He lived with his younger children after splitting from their mother, Seema, who suffered a stroke several years after they separated. The surviving children are being supported by relatives and police, while a fundraising webpage to support the family has raised more than £13,000.
Police are treating the cause of the fire as unexplained and were still at the scene yesterday.
Superintendent Jon Cummins said: ‘ Due to the severity of damage at the scene we are unable at this stage to identify any of the deceased.’