Tragic outcome after dad inhaled smoke from chip pan blaze
WORKING, INQUEST IS TOLD
A Father-of-five died from smoke inhalation from a chip-pan fire at a hostel in Derbyshire.
An inquest into the death of Peter Greenshields heard that batteries had been removed from the smoke alarms.
Mr Greenshields had been drinking heavily when he attempted to make chips and the pan caught fire. Although the fire burnt itself out at the Swadlincote hostel where he was staying, Mr Greenshields had inhaled a fatal amount of smoke.
His brother Jason previously said that Mr Greenshields had lost his job and home due to problems with alcoholism two years before the tragedy. He paid tribute to the former roofer and cladder, saying he was loved by many and was very popular around Swadlincote.
The 54-year-old father, who had a long history of alcohol abuse, had been living in supported accommodation in Midland Road, Swadlincote, at the time of his death. He had stopped engaging with alcohol recovery services in June 2021, his inquest heard.
Derby Coroners’ Court heard that on the evening of March 11, this year, Mr Greenshields drank a large amount of alcohol and used a chip pan in his kitchenette. In the early hours of March 12, the pan caught fire, although the fire soon went out, but not before Mr Greenshields died from inhaling the smoke.
The inquest, held before assistant coroner Susan Evans, heard: “The smoke alarms had been tested the previous week and were working correctly but on this occasion, they had been disconnected from both the mains and back-up batteries, probably to avoid the alarm going off while Mr
Greenshields was either cooking or smoking.”
Mr Greenshields’ cause of death was given as carbon monoxide poisoning, smoke inhalation and acute alcohol intoxication, and the corner ruled that his death was an accident.
Following the inquest, a spokesperson for P3, the charity which provided Mr Greenshields with the hostel place, said: “We would like to extend our sincere condolences to Peter Greenshields’ family and friends. We had known and been supporting Peter for a long time as he continued to make a real effort with his recovery. He was well liked and held in the highest regard by our staff team. We remain deeply saddened by his death.”
Fishing enthusiast Mr Greenshields grew up in Birmingham and left the city for Swadlincote when he was given accommodation by P3, first in Church Gresley, until he could not pay his bills, then in Midland Road, where he had lived for the last 18 months.
His brother said: “When I found out he was homeless, he lived with me for nine months. I wanted to get help for him so [he] was referred to Swadlincote addiction centre. They did what they could, but then covid struck and disrupted the provisions and support. He slipped in and out of addiction. There were days where he wouldn’t have a drink.”
His family only learned of his death on Facebook after a post on a social media page wrongly claimed someone had been stabbed. Mr Greenshields’ brother said: “It appears he left a chip pan on the hob and the smoke alarm wasn’t working as it appears he took the batteries out. We think he had been drinking then woke up and was immediately overcome by the smoke.”