An inquest has concluded that the death of Gillian Cox, who was rescued from a flat fire in Bembridge in January 2022, was the result of an accident.
The 56-year-old retired shopworker was pulled from her burning first-floor flat at Crossway on the evening of 27th January 2022.
Fire crews from Sandown and Shanklin were first to arrive and quickly gained access to the property, locating Ms Cox inside. Further appliances from Ryde, Newport and Cowes also attended.
CPR was administered at the roadside with paramedics battling to stabilise her condition. She was then airlifted from Bembridge Airport by Coastguard Rescue 175 to Southampton General Hospital.
Despite the combined efforts of emergency services and hospital staff, she succumbed to her injuries just 2 days later on 29th January. A cat also died in the fire.
At the time, the incident sparked some controversy as Gillian’s flat was just 100m from Bembridge Fire Station, but the pump did not turn out to the incident. There are now proposals to close the station for good.
Now, Senior Coroner Caroline Sumeray has held a Section 9c inquest, conducted in private. She has determined that the blaze was most likely caused by Ms Cox smoking while in bed.
Sadly, the 56-year-old – who was born in Newport – suffered extensive burns leading to multiple organ failure.
The death has been recorded as accidental.
I have been saying all along how bloody stupid it is to close this station. She might well have been saved if a crew had turned up and attended. Just how long did it take for the Sandown and Ryde crews who are the nearest stations to get on scene? Did Bembridge have a crew at the time of this incident? Someone somewhere has got a lot to answer for. further more, anyone from Bembridge must read this paper, so why are they all sitting back on their fat arses and doing nothing to fight for their station to stay open????