Fire in toaster led to the death of elderly man

Three taps left on in the home of an elderly man, who died of carbon monoxide poisoning last summer, suggested that he was trying to put out the fire, which had originated in his toaster.

The Inquest into the death of Tom Naughton (82), of Rusheeny, Oughterard, at Galway Courthouse, concluded that he had ultimately died from cardio respiratory failure, as a result of the blaze.

The alarm was raised by a neighbour, Laurence Curran, on the morning of June 23 last year. He had called to check on Mr Naughton, who lived alone and had been last seen two days previously.

He became concerned though when he saw that the windows of Mr Naughton’s house were blackened. He went home to get a spare key for the property, and called to another neighbour, retired Garda Superintendent, Pat Tierney.

Both men entered the house and saw Mr Naughton face down in the bathroom.  He was lifeless.

Mr Tierney said that the bed had not been slept in, and that the house was fully secure. He also noted that one tap in the kitchen and two taps in the bathroom were running, which would suggest that Mr Naughton had been trying to put out the fire.

He also told the Inquest that the walls of the sitting room were badly ‘blistered’ which indicated intense heat.

Garda Alison Hogan, who attended the scene, estimated that the seat of the fire was by the window in the sitting room, around where the toaster was plugged in.

Consultant pathologist, Dr Margaret Sheehan, noted in her post mortem examination that there was some singeing of the hair and eyebrows. She also found carbon particles in his nostrils and mouth, his face and the back of his hands were blackened by soot, and there was a lot of discolouration of his larynx, windpipe, and trachea.

Mr Naughton had a background of heart disease, she said, and there was more than 50% narrowing of one of his coronary arteries.

She concluded that death was due to cardio respiratory failure, due to carbon monoxide poisoning associated with a house fire.