Investigators believe a house fire which killed a 59-year-old mother may have been started by a firework posted through her letterbox. Skip related content
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Firework may have started fatal blaze
The woman, named in reports as Mary Fox, apparently pushed her teenage son to safety through an upstairs window after becoming trapped by the blaze at her three-storey house in Bodmin, Cornwall, on Thursday.
The 17-year-old escaped the fire in Carpenter Court, Wallace Road, and was taken to Treliske Hospital where he was treated for smoke inhalation and later released.
A passer-by spotted the front door of the house was on fire at about 7.15pm and alerted emergency services. Crews arrived within six minutes but the blaze had already taken hold.
Firefighters found the woman's body inside the house.
Neighbours described Mrs Fox's actions as the fire tore through her home as heroic and said that her son was bullied by local youths because of his learning difficulties.
Neighbour Doreen Rowe, 59, said: "Mary was a dear old soul and a hero. Her son survived because she pushed him out of the window but she got trapped by the fire.
"I'm devastated. Mary was such a lovely lady. I used to be able to hear her singing from my garden sometimes - she had a beautiful voice."
Family friend Kerry Ollerenshaw, 36, a care worker, said: "Her son had learning difficulties and the kids on this estate can be very harsh.
"They hang around in groups, harassing and intimidating. Raum was a victim of that."
Fire and police investigators from the Specialist Fire Investigation Team have so far been unable to gain full access to the house because of safety concerns.
But Steve Halstead, group manager for Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Obviously with it being November 5, the possibility that fireworks were involved is one of the things that we are looking at and that is a factor in our investigation.
"But we cannot jump to conclusions. We have a very damaged building and we are looking at the fire scene to excavate debris to discover clues."
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