The elderly couple who died in a fire at their home in Limavady, Co Derry, early yesterday are survived by 10 children. The North's fire service retrieved a fire alarm from the scene that was not fitted with batteries.
The death of Mr Leonard Solomon (77) and his wife, Elizabeth (62), came only hours after the house fire in Rostrevor, Co Down, on Thursday, which claimed the lives of Ms Sasha Boyle (28) and her parents, Brian and Briege Boyle. One alarm in the family home was without batteries and it is unclear if a second alarm was working.
Eight people have died in house fires in the North since the beginning of the year.
A spokesman for the fire service said the Limavady fire began in the lounge of the pensioners' bungalow in Edenmore Park. The service was "confident" that the fire had started accidentally, although forensic testing continued yesterday. "There's nothing suspicious here but it's pointing towards smoking material at the moment."
The living room suffered fire and heat damage, with the rest of the home severely smoke damaged.
A neighbour, Ms Molinda Robinson, was taking her children to school yesterday morning and noticed that the front windows of the bungalow were discoloured by smoke. She went to investigate with a neighbour. Climbing through a window, they found the body of Mrs Solomon in a bedroom and raised the alarm shortly before 10 a.m. RUC officers then discovered the body of Mr Solomon in the living room.
The divisional commander of the North's fire service, Mr Jim Crawford, yesterday urged people to fit fire alarms in their homes and to regularly check that they are working correctly. "If it starts to make a noise because the battery is going down, don't be annoyed about it. Put another battery in. It could save your life," he said.
Meanwhile, a funeral Mass will be held at noon today in Rostrevor for the members of the Boyle family who died in the fire at their home on Thursday.