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House fire response time questioned at inquest

Family photograph Louis Busuioc, wearing a black-and-white patterned top, hugs his little sister Desire. In the photograph, she has long dark hair and brown eyes.Family photograph
Louis and Desire Busuioc died in hospital four days after the April 2022 blaze in Preston

The ambulance service did not immediately give the highest level of priority to a house fire which claimed the lives of two young children, an inquest heard.

Louis Busuioc, five, and three-year-old Desire Busuioc died four days after a fire in Preston, Lancashire, on 8 April 2022.

Their parents claimed North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) could have responded more quickly to the blaze.

NWAS service delivery manager Angela Lee told the boys' inquest at Preston County Hall that a 999 call had not been escalated from "category two" to "category one", the level that requires a seven-minute response time and is reserved for life-threatening situations.

'Specialist resources'

The inquest heard initial reports suggested there were several people in the burning building.

At 19:52 BST, a call handler classified the incident as "category two".

An NWAS rapid response vehicle arrived at the scene at about 20:14, the court heard.

The earliest possible arrival time could have been 20:01, the inquest heard.

Ms Lee explained "we would have been able to mobilise specialist resources, senior clinicians and more ambulances" had the highest priority level been allocated.

However, she went on to say that because no ambulances had been available, it was unlikely one would have got to the scene any faster.

The inquest heard lessons had been learned from the incident, with NWAS staff across the northwest of England receiving training.

'Screamed for help'

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) and Lancashire Police arrived at the blaze before NWAS and gave the two children CPR before they were taken to hospital.

The inquest has previously been told Lorena Feraru "screamed for help" and desperately tried to pull her children out of a bedroom window.

Firefighters searched the bottom of the property before discovering the children upstairs.

Paul Ratcliffe said crews had "performed exceptionally well" in "extremely challenging conditions".

An investigation found the probable cause of the fire was the use of a lighter that had been found near a sofa downstairs.

Mr Ratcliffe said: "Both parents did recount that the son had been discovered with the lighter. There were burn marks upstairs.

"Some months before the fire, clothes were set on fire in the bedroom."

The inquest continues.

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