SAFETY issues involving portable lpg heaters were scrutinised during a Dunedin Coroner's Court hearing into a fire in which an 80-year-old Dunedin woman died last year.
Southern region coroner David Crerar found that Florence May Pearson died on October 12 after a fire at her home at Panmure Ave, Dunedin, the previous day.
Some of her clothing had been ignited by a gas heater and she experienced severe burns and shock.
The coroner reserved his further findings regarding the fire, which involved a De'Longhi SRI model portable lpg heater, bought at Mitre 10 Mega, in Dunedin.
His full findings were likely to include recommendations made by the Fire Service, which had investigated the fire, he indicated.
Firefighters were called to the fire at 4.43pm on October 11 by Mrs Pearson. She was badly burned but there was only minor damage to the kitchen, where she was found.
Terry Glass, who last year was a Fire Service senior fire safety officer based in Dunedin, investigated the fire and made recommendations, including:
- That no heaters are sold without instruction manuals, and signs should take into consideration the ageing nature of the New Zealand population.
- Signs relate to the model sold and be clearly visible and close to the operating dials.
- The end user's age and physical condition should be ‘‘an important consideration'' before a sale.
- At point of sale, the 1m distance rule and need for a fireguard should be stressed.
A report prepared by Mr Glass suggested there would have been a gap of only about 600mm between Mrs Pearson's clothes drying rack and the gas heater.
The presumed cause of the fire was that Mrs Pearson was too close to the heater, the report said. The gas heater had been turned off by Mrs Pearson and evidence suggested she had been using a damp hand towel from the drying rack to smother the flames.
No instructions had accompanied the heater at purchase and the warning labels were not clearly displayed.
The instruction manual had included a direction the appliance was not intended for use by young children or the infirm, without supervision, the report noted.
Between 2002 and last year, portable gas heaters had been the ignition source in 138 firerelated incidents, according to Fire Service statistics.
During the hearing, Rosemary Creighton made submissions, jointly prepared with her sister, Isabel Owens, arising from their mother's death. Ms Creighton raised concerns about the safety of such portable lpg heaters, taking issue with aspects of their design.
The heaters generated a great deal of heat, posing potential risks for some people operating them. Portable lpg heaters were banned in Australia, the submission noted.
Eric Bleakley, New Zealand general manager of De'Longhi New Zealand Ltd, told the court he was ‘‘saddened to hear of Mrs Pearson's tragic death'' and acknowledged her family's grief.
De'Longhi took fire safety concerns ‘‘extremely seriously'' and was confident the fire ‘‘was not caused by any fault with the heater'', investigations having been conducted by Energy Safety Services and the New Zealand Fire Service, Mr Bleakley said.
The company would carefully consider a series of safetyrelated suggestions made at the hearing and some ideas could be introduced quickly, he said.
Since the De'Longhi SRI model heater was introduced to New Zealand in 2005, more than 5200 units had been sold.
The heater fully met New Zealand heater safety standards, and the more demanding standards which applied in Europe, he said.
The court heard that Mrs Pearson and her son-in-law, Kenneth David McLeod, of Invercargill had visited Mitre 10 Mega, in Dunedin, to look at gas heaters, on September 8 last year.
Mrs Pearson had been having difficulty turning the control knob of her old De'Longhibrand heater which she had used for more than a decade.
A gas heater which had been on display at the shop, and which had some minor marks, was subsequently bought at a discount. The packing box and operating manual were missing, Mr McLeod said.
James Harvey, store department team leader, said he had offered to demonstrate the gas heater, but the gentleman and elderly lady said they were quite familiar with gas heaters.
