Relatives recall care home blaze

The nursing home where the elderly residents died

Relatives of elderly residents who died in a fire at a Lanarkshire care home have been giving evidence at a fatal accident inquiry into the tragedy.

Sheriff principal, Brian Lockhart, began proceedings with a minute's silence for the 14 victims of the fire at Rosepark home in Uddingston in 2004.

The family members said there were few problems with the nursing home.

One woman described talking to her mother, who was "very black with smoke" after the blaze.

The inquiry, being held in the Gospel Literature Outreach Centre in Motherwell, will seek to establish where and when each of the victims died, the cause of their death and what caused the fire.

It will also investigate whether any reasonable precautions could have been taken to have prevented the blaze.

She said she opened the door and got a fright when she saw what was happening Agnes Crawford Victim's daughter

Robina Burns, 89, and a resident at Rosepark since 2002, died at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, two days after the fire.

Her daughter, Agnes Crawford, 72, said: "She was very black with smoke when I saw her.

"She kept pulling her oxygen mask down."

Mrs Crawford added: "She was awakened by the sound of a bulb popping.

"When she did wake she could smell smoke.

"She said she opened the door and got a fright when she saw what was happening."

FIRE VICTIMS Annie (Nan) Stirrat, 82 Julia McRoberts, 90 Robina Burns, 89 Isabella MacLeod, 75 Margaret Lappin, 83 Mary McKenner, 82 Ellen (Helen) Milne, 82 Helen (Ella) Crawford, 85 Annie Thomson, 87 Margaret McWee, 98 Thomas Cook, 95 Agnes Dennison, 95 Margaret Gow, 84 Isabella MacLachlan, 93

The inquiry heard that Mrs Crawford said in a police statement: "She saw flames rush along the corridor.

"She closed the door tight, made her way to the window, pulled a lever to open the window.

"She sat at a chair by the window and everything went quiet."

She said her mother was unable to remember anything after that.

The fourteen residents aged between 75 and 98 all died as a result of inhaling smoke following the fire in January 2004 which is believed to have been started by an electrical fault in a linen cupboard.

Four other residents were injured in the blaze.

A model of the Rosepark care home is in the courtroom to help witnesses giving evidence in the hearing which is expected to last between four and six months.

Earlier Janette Bulloch, the daughter of victim Helen Crawford, 85, told the inquiry her mother was in the home because she had Alzheimer's and it was becoming increasingly difficult to cope with her.

A model of the Rosepark home is in the courtroom to help witnesses

Asked whether her mother's bedroom door was generally kept open or closed, she replied: "Her preference would be to have it open."

She said she had noticed fire drill instructions on the walls at the home but added that sometimes she noticed fire doors were open.

The policy of leaving bedroom doors open or closed is one of the areas being looked at by the inquiry.

It has taken almost six years to begin the judicial inquiry, because at first prosecutors tried to bring charges against three directors of the company which ran the nursing home.

Three separate indictments were issued, each being dismissed on a legal technicality. On the final occasion in May 2009, the judge, Lord Matthews, said it would be impossible under current laws to bring prosecutions against Thomas, Anne and Alan Balmer.

Two days later the Crown Office announced it was to hold a fatal accident inquiry - although this will not be able to apportion blame.

The sheriff principal can make recommendations to prevent a similar tragedy, but these are not legally binding.