Anniversary of horror blaze which killed five members of same Sheffield family

Two brothers died alongside their sister, aunt and grandmother in a house fire in Wake Road, Nether Edge, on April 2014.

Adyan Parwaiz Kayani, aged nine and his brother Amaan Parwaiz Kayani, seven, died with their nine-week-old sister Minahil, grandmother Shabina Begum, 53 and aunt Anum Parwaiz, 20.

The fire broke out in the early hours while the family slept and flames quickly engulfed the three-storey house.

Mrs Begum did initially managed to escape but died after going back inside the burning house in a desperate attempt to save her family members.

The children’s mother had to be held back as she tried to re-enter the inferno to rescue her children. Her husband arrived home from work to find paramedics battling to revive his loved ones.

Firefighters deployed to the scene were offered counselling afterwards.

Recording a verdict of accidental death following an inquest into the deaths, coroner Chris Dorries described the fire as “a tragedy of unimaginable proportion” and said the cause of the blaze was “undetermined.”

Evidence was heard from forensic experts about electrical items which were found close to where the fire started. These included a mobile phone, phone charger and baby monitor charging cradle, but the coroner said none of these could be said to have caused the fire.

Smoke alarms were fitted in the property and operated that night, but the family initially believed it to have been a false alarm.

The fire spread quickly and was described by firefighters as being particularly ferocious. This was aided by doors within the house remaining open, which helped the fire to spread, the inquest heard.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s head of community safety at the time, Kevin Ronan, said: “This was the most serious house fire in terms of loss of life that our crews have attended for many years.

“Fires as serious as this are fortunately very rare, but when they do happen they affect our service personnel and the wider community very deeply.

“We’d remind people that whilst smoke alarms have the potential to save lives in house fires, they will only do so if people take the appropriate action when the alarm sounds - to get out, stay out and call 999.

“One of our main safety messages during talks and safety visits is to shut internal doors at night to stop the spread of a fire in the event one does occur. Unfortunately it does not appear that this happened at this incident, meaning the blaze spread incredibly quickly.”

Firefighters were praised during proceedings for their exceptional bravery, with coroner Mr Dorries commending the first crew in attendance.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus walked up a burning staircase in temperatures of more than 1,000 degrees celcius to search for casualties, the inquest heard.

“We echo the words of the coroner who commended the actions of the first crew in attendance. The inquest was told that this was the most ferocious domestic fire firefighters with more than 25 years experience had ever attended, and it is right that their actions have been recognised”, Mr Ronan said.

Adyan and Amaan were pupils at Lydgate Junior School.

In an emotional tribute at the time, then headteacher Stuart Jones, said: “They had a sparkle in their eyes and most often a smile on their faces. They brought joy and a liveliness to our school and everyone who worked with Amaan and Adyan enjoyed doing so.”