MYSTERY surrounds the death of a Doxey woman who died hours after a cooker fire at her home.
An inquest into the death of Angela Firkins heard fire crews attended the small fire at her home in The Drive in November caused by animal fats reaching ignition temperature.
The 45-year-old was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene but declined to attend hospital, the hearing was told.
Cannock coroner’s court heard she went to bed at 9pm as normal but the next morning she was found dead in bed by her partner.
A report from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue, read to the court, said: “Her partner said she seemed well when he returned from work that evening.” The hearing was told the part-time worker had never smoked and drank very little although doctors had been concerned about her weight.
A post mortem identified no obvious abnormalities.
Further tests revealed she died from a problem with her heart muscle.
South Staffordshire coroner Andrew Haigh said: “Her weight is a possible reason for this but there are other possible reasons for this. I can’t pinpoint reasons this has occurred.
“The fire doesn’t appear to have played a role in her death. It’s likely she would have been subject to some stress but I don’t find the degree of the stress or the circumstances of the death make it likely.” He gave the cause of death as sudden cardiac death caused by a dilated heart muscle
