Man who died in Blackburn car garage fire was not found for 4 days

Firefighters were called after a blaze broke out at Smart Autos at Chadwick Mill, Lower Hollin Bank Street, at about 6.40pm on Saturday, April 24.

However, it was not until Wednesday, April 28, four days after the fire, that the body of Waqas Qureshi, 35, was found.

An inquest at Preston Coroner's Court today (April 6) heard how Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service received “conflicting information” about whether there was anybody in the building.

Smoke pouring out of the garage on Lower Hollin Bank Street near Bolton Road. Photo credit: LT

On the day of the blaze, car mechanic Muhammad Arshad Azad said he had seen Waqas that afternoon at some point between 1pm and 3pm.

He says he did not see Waqas inside the building or leaving the building following this so was unsure of his whereabouts.

Mr Azad told the court he was coming back inside the building to get some keys to bring some vehicles back into the garage.

On entering the building, Mr Azad saw the area under a balcony was “badly alight” so he called Javed Akther, who worked at Sparkles garage next door, to tell him about the fire.

Mr Akther came straight to the garage to see the flames and called the fire service.

Crews attended, including Watch Manager Chris Waring, with six engines and an aerial ladder unit who started to tackle the fire which they managed to get under control after a few hours.

Mr Waring said when he arrived it was a “very well-established fire” and that cylinders were exploding with the entire garage engulfed in flames, with temperatures potentially hitting 1,000 degrees centigrade.

He said: “It was not a feasible task when we arrived to deploy anybody in the building.

“After about an hour and a half or two hours, we were able to deploy crew members into the building however we had no indication there was anybody inside.

“I spoke to Mr Azad who told me he had been locking up the building and putting cars back inside and he was the last person in the building.”

The damage inside the building after the blaze. Photo credit: Submitted

The following day, an anonymous phone call was received by Watch Manager Forth at 7am saying there may be a person in the building.

However, in a number of conversations, one with Watch Manager Jim Stone, and one with Watch Manager Rob Harvey, Mr Azad, using Javed Akther to translate, told them both that he worked there and was the only one in the building at the time of the blaze.

Mr Stone said: “I have the person who was saying he was the last person in the building.

"He was in the building at the time of the fire and said there was nobody in the building. What reason would I have to disbelieve him?”

While Mr Harvey added: “They were adamant there was nobody in the building.”

Due to all the conflicting reports to the fire service of whether or not there was a body in the building, a report was conducted by the fire service.

Mr Neil Taylor, who conducted the report, said: “There are clearly opportunities where we could have performed better in those following days. We do accept we could have done better and should have done better.”

He did say, however, that in his lengthy career he has never been presented with a situation where people have not been “forthcoming with information" about a person inside a building during a fire.

Fire crews tackling the blaze at the car garage

Mr Taylor added: “I have worked for the fire service for 27 years and in that time attended thousands of fires.

“Normally, people are screaming at us that someone is inside. I have never come across it when people are not forthcoming with information.”

Investigations show it was likely, due to the debris surrounding Waqas, that he was on the mezzanine at the time of the blaze.

Michael Angland, who helped investigate the fire, said they were unable to determine its cause.

He told the court: “I came to that conclusion, even though we couldn’t find a cause.

"It hadn’t been helped by contradictive statements who could generally tell me how this fire started.”

Mr Angland said due to the state of the fire when crews arrived, it was “highly unlikely” someone on the mezzanine, where it is believed Waqas was, would have been able to survive.

Before the fire, the manager of the garage, Syed Shazad Haider, said Waqas travelled around the country and would visit him on several occasions as a friend, but says he never worked for him.

Waqas Qureshi died of as a result of asphyxiation due to inhalation of products by combustion. Photo credit: Submitted

Mr Haider said: “He couldn’t work, he was very ill. He was very weak, his health was not good.”

Mr Haider was on his way to Pakistan when the fire broke out at the garage. He told the inquest he did not know Waqas was at the garage.

He did say he told Waqas that if he was visiting the garage and was using the upstairs computer, should something be ordered on the eBay page, to inform Azad about it so he could package it up and send it.

When Mr Haider found out about the fire after he arrived in Pakistan, he said he called Mr Azad at about 6am English time on the Saturday to ask if he was ok.

Mr Haider said he told Mr Azad at this time Waqas had not been on WhatsApp since shortly after the fire broke out and to pass this information to the fire service.

Despite this claim, the fire service says that Mr Azad told staff on several occasions after this time there was nobody in the building.

Detective Inspector Martin Melvin, who was one of the police officers on the scene, said it could not be confirmed why Waqas was at the garage at the time of the blaze.

He told the court: “What his role was is unclear. I don’t know where he has stayed there overnight. His work commitments were also unclear.”

DI Melvin said Waqas, who last lived in London, was likely living across the country due to his immigration status and the fact he was wanted in the south.

His family believe Waqas was living at the garage at the time of the fire, however, the owner has said repeatedly this was not the case.

A post-mortem conducted by Dr Jamie Robinson found Waqas, who was born in Pakistan, died of asphyxiation due to inhalation of products by combustion.

When his body was found it was stained with soot with some damage to the right side of him related to the blaze.

A toxicology report found that Waqas had cocaine and cannabis in his system, however, there is no evidence that this contributed to his death.

Coroner Richard Taylor said there are so many “what ifs” in the investigation.

He said: “Why was Waqas there? If he had been putting his head down, how long had he been there?

"Why wasn’t it believed that he was still in there? Why was no one told that?”

The coroner will return his conclusion tomorrow.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue will provide a comment on the inquest once it has concluded.