A coroner has found an electric blanket, which was more than 40 years old, sparked the fire which killed a retired Thames man.
Arthur Earle Plimley, 76, died of smoke inhalation last August after an electric blanket which he had modified to raise the voltage, faulted and set his mattress alight.
Mr Plimley, a radio broadcast enthusiast, was found dead in his home after a friend of his alerted police that he missed a broadcast, which was unusual.
Police found him in his badly burnt and charred bedroom slumped over a chair in the corner of his bedroom near a window.
Both a television and a fire alarm in Mr Plimley's room had melted during the fire.
Coroner Gordon Matenga said it was likely Mr Plimley was woken by the heat or smell of smoke and tried to make his way towards his bedroom window to vent the room.
"While that may have been a good idea to get oxygen to himself, it is likely that had he been successful the fire would probably have ignited even further because the oxygen would have fed the flames as well as being life-saving treatment for Mr Plimley," Mr Matenga said.
Mr Matenga ruled the direct cause of death to be smoke inhalation, but Mr Plimley also had chronic ischaemic heart disease and chronic obstructive airways disease which would have contributed to his death.
Considering the circumstances of Mr Plimley's death, it was important for people to consider the age of their electric blankets, Mr Matenga said.
"We are at present almost into winter and people will be reaching for their electric blankets, if they have not already done so, to use them to keep themselves warm over this winter season," he said.
It is also timely to remind the public to check their smoke alarms, Mr Matenga said.
