A MAN died in a vain attempt to save his father from a blazing caravan.
Both men were overcome by deadly fumes inside the caravan at a park in Talybont, near Barmouth, Gwynedd, in June, after flames spread from an awning.
Two-year-old Emmy Taylor survived after a window had been smashed and her grandmother grabbed her just seconds before an explosion.
At an inquest in Dolgellau yesterday verdicts of accidental death were recorded on her grandfather Robert Taylor, 57, a lorry driver, and her uncle Andrew Taylor, 26, a twin, both of Royal Drive, Flint.
In dramatic evidence Emmy’s grandmother Denise Taylor, Robert’s widow, described what happened during a family weekend break at the seaside, in the early hours.
She said Andrew had been sleeping on an air bed inside an awning and the first she knew anything was wrong was when she heard him screaming “mum, mum, get out.”
Mrs Taylor added: ”As I got out my son was behind me and went back into the caravan to his dad. I never spoke to my husband again.”
She was shouting for help and trying to dislodge a window to get to her husband. With another camper’s help she managed to get another window off and grabbed Emmy. “I didn’t go very far with her when the caravan exploded with a big bang,” she recalled.
In a statement read to the inquest camper James Hunt, who had dashed to the caravan after hearing cries for help, said he saw a little girl lying on a bed immediately below a window. As she was grabbed by her grandmother “I could see the girl’s hair was on fire.”
Within seconds flames engulfed the caravan.
Fire investigator Darren Jones said the mixture of gases in the caravan, when oxygen was introduced through the open windows, caused a flashover.
He explained to the coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones how an extension lead in the awning was coiled up, and this would have generated heat. In turn this could have assisted a transformer leading to a cool box to also overheat.
Recording his verdicts, the coroner said it might be of some comfort to the family to know the two men were quickly overcome by fumes and wouldn’t have burned to death.
“The combination of heat from the induction coil and transformer in my view caused the fire in the caravan,” he said.
Flammable material in the awning, where the fire started, would have helped the flames. Extension leads should not be coiled when there is current passing through.
Mr Pritchard-Jones said there had been a smoke detector in the caravan, but no battery.
A family statement after the inquest praised the people of Flint for their “fantastic and practical” support for the family.
Emmy Taylor’s mother, Laura, said: “She’s recovering slowly but there’s still a long way to go. She’s back in nursery school with her friends.”
Emmy is now three. She was treated for weeks at Alder Hey hospital, Liverpool.