Inquest Gives Open Verdict on Girl's Fatal House Fire

Layla Allen, a 13-year-old schoolgirl, died in a fire that engulfed her family home in Prescot, Merseyside, on the night of April 2 last year, becoming trapped on the top bunk of her bed while her parents and five siblings escaped unharmed.

Firefighters responded to reports of the blaze shortly before midnight, arriving at the property on Kingsway to find Layla's parents, Shaun Allen and Michelle McGurry, outside with their other children. The crew entered the burning first-floor rear bedroom and discovered Layla lying on her back on the upper bunk. Her condition was described as not compatible with life, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. A postmortem examination determined the cause of death as the effects of the fire, with elevated levels of carbon monoxide in her lungs.

An inquest into the tragedy, held on January 16, heard that the fire likely ignited in the bedding on the top bunk before spreading to the mattress, fueled by oxygen from an open window nearby. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service investigator Ruth BallerWilson, who led the probe, stated that the burn patterns pointed to the bunk bed as the origin. "It's difficult to determine the exact sequence of...