A coroner has been unable to determine what caused a house fire that killed a Swansea woman on Tasmania’s east coast.
Merrell Down, 68, died at her two-storey home on February 28, 2024.
Her remains were found in the debris three days later and identified through DNA analysis.
The Tasmania Fire Service received multiple Triple-Zero (000) calls around 9:18am reporting smoke coming from the roof.
Tradespeople working next door broke windows in an attempt to get inside, but were forced back by the heat.
Firefighters arrived at 9:32am to find the house fully engulfed. It later collapsed and crews could only fight the fire from outside.
Coroner Leigh Mackey found Down was “alive and breathing” when the blaze took hold.
She lived alone and, according to the coronial findings, had not left her property for about six years.
Down had anxiety, agoraphobia and insomnia, a history of alcohol abuse and was a heavy smoker.
Her mental health had declined after she separated from her estranged husband in January 2022 and during court proceedings over the sale of the home.
The death of her dog, Bobby, in January that year had also affected her deeply, the coroner found.
Those proceedings were listed in the Federal Circuit and Family Court on the morning of the fire.
Her estranged husband was in his solicitor’s office in Launceston to attend by video link at the time.
Mackey found there was no evidence Down was suicidal and no evidence anyone had deliberately lit the fire.
The house was locked and secured when firefighters arrived.
A fire investigator said the most likely cause was accidental and linked to Down’s smoking and alcohol use. No accelerant was detected.
Mackey said a finding “requires more than speculation” and the evidence did not meet the legal standard needed to determine a cause.
She recorded the cause of the fire as “undetermined”.
Mackey accepted the home would not have been survivable within five minutes of the fire starting.
“The progression of the fire throughout the home was rapid as was its collapse,” she said.
“Unfortunately, Ms Down did not have sufficient opportunity to escape the home before becoming overwhelmed by the fire.”
