Woman found dead after house fire started by candles burns out unnoticed

When a neighbour noticed that mail was building up in Joy Brewer’s letterbox, she knocked on her door – but there was no answer.

Brewer, described as “chatty”, had not been seen for days.

Looking through a window at the New Plymouth property, the neighbour noticed smoke damage inside and called police.

The October 2023 blaze, later linked to unattended candles, had burned itself out without attracting the attention of neighbours or passers-by.

Police forced entry to carry out a welfare check and found Brewer, 74, dead inside.

In findings made earlier this year, Coroner Ruth Thomas found Brewer died in an accidental house fire sometime between October 13 and 17, 2023.

She ruled Brewer died from “inhalation of products of combustion” as a result of the Kenmore St fire.

A summary of the case was published today in the latest Coroners Court Recommendations Recap, containing recent coronial recommendations and comments.

According to the findings, a neighbour recalled that Brewer, who lived alone, regularly lit candles at her house and described her as chatty.

In the weeks before her death, Brewer had become increasingly unsteady on her feet, the findings stated.

On one occasion, she fell near her garage and later arrived at the neighbour’s house with blood on her head.

Brewer said it had taken hours to get herself up. An ambulance was called, but she refused to go to hospital.

The neighbour later said Brewer appeared to struggle with alcohol use and balance issues, and she had been checking on her more frequently since the fall.

The last confirmed sighting of Brewer was on October 12 when she ordered a pizza from a local business.

The owner said Brewer was a regular customer who ordered the same pizza every week and was “chirpy and happy” when it was delivered.

The following day she spoke with her son over the phone, which was the last known contact she had with family.

After police arrived at the house on October 17, officers found there had been a “significant fire” inside.

They discovered Brewer on the floor between the kitchen and the lounge.

Uneaten slices of pizza were found in a box on the couch in the lounge and empty wine bottles in the laundry, hallway, bedroom and the kitchen.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand investigator later determined the blaze had extinguished itself.

While there were no obvious signs of fire damage from outside, smoke staining was found throughout almost the entire house. Only one bedroom, which had its door closed, escaped the damage.

The investigator found the fire started on a desk in the lounge where candle holders, burnt matches and other combustible materials were kept.

It was determined that unattended candles ignited nearby items and that the fire was accidental.

An autopsy found soot in Brewer’s airways, indicating she was alive for a period while the fire burned.

Toxicology testing detected alcohol in her system, although the coroner noted it was impossible to know whether the level accurately reflected her alcohol concentration at the time of death.

The coroner said what happened in Brewer’s final moments may never be known.

“It will never be known exactly when in the timeframe Ms Brewer ended up on the floor between her kitchen and lounge.

“It is possible Ms Brewer was already on the ground when the fire started, or was on the ground when it was in its early stages, and as with her previous fall, she was unable to quickly get herself back on her feet.”

While there were no working smoke alarms in the house, the coroner said there was insufficient evidence to conclude their absence directly contributed to Brewer’s death.

“While smoke alarms may usefully alert neighbours, in this case, even if alarms were going, they may not have been audible to her neighbours as all her windows and doors were closed.”

The coroner also said alcohol may have affected Brewer’s ability to escape the fire, but stopped short of making any finding that it contributed to her death.

Coroner Thomas used the findings to reinforce Fire and Emergency’s fire safety advice about the use of candles.

“Never leave candles unattended – candles can be a serious fire hazard; never leave them unattended or go to sleep without extinguishing them.”

Tara Shaskey is an assistant editor and reporter for the Open Justice team. She joined NZME in 2022 and has worked as a journalist since 2014.