Chesterfield mum and disabled son died after wardrobe fire started by “naked flame”, inquest hears

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
A Chesterfield mother and her disabled son died after a fire in a wardrobe at their home, started by a “naked flame”, an inquest has heard.

Sarita Garcia-Perez, 65, and her son Sancho Garcia-Bolsover, 31, both lost their lives during the fire at their three-storey terraced home on Staunton Close, Chesterfield.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

On April 7 fire crews rushed to the house at around 2.50am to battle the blaze, however Sarita and Sancho were both pronounced dead at the scene.

At an inquest into their deaths on Friday (September 20) Derbyshire Coroner Susan Evans described how the fire was “well-established” when firefighters arrived.

Sarita Garcia-Perez, 65, and her son Sancho Garcia-Bolsover, 32, both lost their lives on April 7 during the fire at their three-storey terraced homeSarita Garcia-Perez, 65, and her son Sancho Garcia-Bolsover, 32, both lost their lives on April 7 during the fire at their three-storey terraced home
Sarita Garcia-Perez, 65, and her son Sancho Garcia-Bolsover, 32, both lost their lives on April 7 during the fire at their three-storey terraced home

The inquest heard the blaze originated in the walk-in-wardrobe of the master bedroom from a naked flame having come into contact with items inside.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In a record of inquest following the hearing Ms Evans wrote: “It is not known what the source of the naked flame was or how it came to be in the vicinity of the wardrobe.”

However the coroner stated that Sancho was inside the room where the fire started at the time.

She wrote: “From the evidence it is likely that his (Sancho’s) mother Sarita Garcia-Perez was alerted to the fire and upon entering the bedroom opened the window to dissipate the smoke. This increased the ventilation and intensified the fire.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Ms Evans gave their cause of death as inhalation of the products of combustion and concluded their deaths were the result of an accident.

An earlier hearing as told Sarita was a retired stewardess and Sancho was unemployed due to a disability at the time.

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.