4:43am Saturday 7th November 2009
© Press Association 2011
A mother who died in a house fire after apparently pushing her teenage son to safety through a window may have been killed after a firework was posted through her letterbox, investigators said.
The 59-year-old woman, named in reports as Mary Fox, died after becoming trapped by the blaze at her three-storey house in Bodmin, Cornwall, on Thursday.
Her 17-year-old son escaped the fire in Carpenter Court, Wallace Road, and was taken to Treliske Hospital where he was treated for smoke inhalation and later released. It is thought that she pushed her son from an upstairs window to help him to safety.
A passer-by spotted the front door of the house was on fire at about 7.15pm and alerted the emergency services.
Crews arrived within six minutes but the blaze had already taken hold. Firefighters found the woman's body inside the house.
Paying tribute to Mrs Fox, neighbours described her actions as the fire tore through her home as heroic.
They also said her son, named in reports as Raum, was bullied by local youths because of his learning difficulties.
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.
"A gang has been letting off all sorts of bangers and rockets near their home for days. You could just sense something was going to happen."
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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