A SON has paid tribute to his late father after a coroner ruled the pensioner died from a “tragic accident” after a fire swept through his home.

Michael Boulton, 81, of Arundel Gardens, Westcliff, died in Southend Hospital on October 8 last year, four days after suffering 40 per cent full and partial burns in the fire at his home.

An inquest into his death was heard at the Essex Coroners’ Court in Chelmsford yesterday, with county coroner Eleanor McGann ruling out any chance of suicide.

Paul Boulton, 41, known as Billy, returned to the home he, wife Sarah, and their two sons shared with his dad just hours after the blaze.

They had been on a trip to Norfolk.

Echo:

Sara and Michael Boulton are rebuilding his chilldhood home after the fire

He said: “He had lived in that house for 40 years. He was part of the furniture in the road.

“The neighbours have been amazing, helping us save things from the house, giving us lots of support, it shows what he meant to people here.

“It would have been entirely out of character for it to be suicide.

“He loved life, but there was a 0.2 per cent chance in our minds so it is nice to have that thought eliminated.

“We never could work out why he did not get out, but in the report it states he was found partially in the bathroom and in the hallway, so they said if he lit his pipe, went to the toilet, and then came back out, the smoke could have overcome him.”

The cause of death was determined to be multiple organ failure, caused by thermal burns and inhalation injuries.

Mrs McGann heard a fire investigation report read by the court room, and said there were no suspicious circumstances.

She said: “In the course of the inquiry we found out Mr Boulton was a pipe smoker and he was a bit careless with matches and indeed had previously accidentally set fire both to the house and to the car.

“One of the possibilities would have been suicide, that he deliberately set a fire to kill himself, but there is no evidence of that at all.

“At the seat of the fire the investigators identified an extraordinary number of spent matches.

“When I put all of that together I do consider that on the balance of probabilities it was a tragic accident.”

Echo:

Fire ripped through the Boultons' home

‘We are so proud of the way our two boys have coped’

MICHAEL Boulton’s son and daughter-in-law praised the resilience of their children in the aftermath of the tragic fire.

Billy Boulton had moved back into his childhood home, with his wife, Sara, 39, and their two boys last summer after his mother, Marion, died in May.

Many of the children's childhood possessions were destroyed in the fire, but both Billy and Sara paid tribute to the way Matthew, 14, and 11-yearold Joshua had coped with the loss of their grandfather.

Mrs Boulton said: “There have been times where it has really got to me but the boys have been amazing, we’re so proud of them.

“Joshua has found it difficult because he’s the one that would sit and listen to the stories of grandad's time doing national service and he does often go to bed saying he misses grandad.

“But they have both been so supporting, and caring and loving.”

The family are currently in the process of renovating their Arundel Gardens home and hope to move back in during the summer holidays.

Mr Boulton admitted it can be difficult going back into the fire-ravaged property.

He said: “Sometimes it hits you when you go in and think about it, but the boys have said they are very much looking forward to making it a family home again and making grandad proud.”