South Shields Fire Trial
Firefighters stage reconstruction of deadly blaze
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| HOUSE FIRE VICTIM: Tatum Leah Spence |
MURDER jurors have been shown dramatic reconstruction footage of the blaze which engulfed a family home and killed two sisters.
Fire investigators refurbished a derelict house in Boldon so it was an almost exact replica of 99 Lisle Road in South Shields.
The sofa in the reconstructed living room was then set alight and footage from video cameras inside the house showed the blaze davastate the property.
Newcastle Crown Court heard how the purpose of the exercise was to try and get and exact timing of how long it took for the blaze to take hold, and approximately what time the fatal blaze was started.
Demi Jade Spence, 12, and her sister Tatum Leah, 14, were killed when fire engulfed their family home in the early hours of April 4 last year.
Prosecutors claim Shane Spence, 18, sparked the blaze which killed his two sisters by pouring petrol on a downstairs sofa and setting it alight.
He denies two charges of murder and two of attempting to murder his parents John and Anita, both 37.
Senior fire investigator John Baines told jurors yesterday how the house in Boldon was refurbished to be almost an exact replica of the Lisle Road property.
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| DIED IN FIRE: Demi Jade Spence |
Walls were knocked down to make the property open plan,other walls were built, windows were fitted and moved and ceilings were changed.
Mr Baines told jurors: "It was as close as we could reasonably expect to get.
"Myself and my colleagues, both from fire and rescue and the local authority did everything we reasonably could to make the building as close as possible."
Mr Baines told the court how three cameras were put inside the property, one was put outside the front of the property and one was put at the back.
A split-screen video was shown to jurors, showing all five cameras in unison.
Footage from inside the living room showed a firefighter igniting the sofa and the blaze taking hold.
It took just three minutes before the sofa was full of fire.
After just four-and-a-half minutes the flames were at ceiling level and just a minute later the flames were making their way up the stairs of the open-plan property.
After five minutes and 15 seconds the stairs were engulfed and there was no way down.
The three cameras inside the house were quickly covered in thick, black smoke and soon showed just a black screen.
The two cameras outside the house showed smoke billowing from the windows and the living room window smashing.
Prosecutors claim the fire was started at Lisle Road between 00.45 and 00.55 in the morning.
It is claimed these times correspond with the time Spence left a pal's house and returned to his family home to pick up a cd.
Spence denies starting the fire.
The trial continues.
2:42am Saturday 2nd February 2008
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