Finding into death of Michael Alan Holmes
Deceased
Michael Alan Holmes
Demographics
34y, male
Date of death
2020-06-07
Finding date
2023-07-06
Cause of death
effects of burns
AI-generated summary
Michael Holmes, 34, died from severe burns sustained when he re-entered a burning house attempting to rescue his son. The fire originated from clothes and towels left drying on a rack in front of an unattended wood heater. He suffered 90% total body surface area burns and died in hospital. The coroner found the fire was likely caused by the hazardous practice of drying laundry near an actively burning wood heater, compounded by the absence of working smoke alarms. Key lessons: never leave burning heaters unattended with flammable items nearby, install and maintain working smoke alarms throughout homes, and ensure safe distance between heaters and combustible materials. This preventable tragedy highlights the critical importance of basic fire safety practices in residential settings.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- clothes and towels left drying in front of unattended wood heater
- wood heater left burning overnight without supervision
- towels hung on metal hooks affixed to chimney flue in close proximity to heater
- insufficient or absent working smoke alarms in the property
- ignition of combustible materials near heat source
Coroner's recommendations
- Members of the public should be reminded of the dangers of drying clothes near an open fire or wood heater unobserved
- Flammable materials must be kept away from heaters, open fires and wood fires for the safety of all building occupants
- Working smoke alarms should be installed in all living areas and bedrooms
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —