The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Two years since 71-year-old June Buffham died in a house fire, her daughter ha spoken out for the first time about the heartache of losing her mum in a bid to warn others about the dangers of illegal cigarettes.
June, who had mobility problems, was home alone on the Sunday evening in April 2012 when fire took hold of her living room.
It is believed the fire was started by a Jin Ling cigarette which June dropped in her chair and continued to burn – quickly releasing fumes, including cyanide, which would have killed her within a minute.
The living room of the house she shared with husband Peter in Stonegate was completely destroyed.
Her daughter Julie Grant, of Swineshead, takes up the story.
She said: “The pictures cannot do justice to how bad it was.
“You can’t really know the full extent unless you walk into a room where there has been a fire.
“Walking in there was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It is your worst nightmare – in fact you wouldn’t be able to imagine it – and once you have seen it and smelled it you can never forget it.
“Small things now such as a barbecue flaring up with too much fat take me straight back there and I just freak out, but it is important to talk about this now and try to make people understand the horror of it to try to save other people’s lives and prevent anyone else going through what we have been through.”
Although it is two years since the tragedy in which June died, the pain is still raw for Julie and her family, especially for her father, but he is still 100 per cent supportive of what she is doing to back the Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue and Trading Standards campaign to highlight the dangers of Jin Ling cigarettes.
The campaign includes the release of a hard-hitting and graphic video which drives home how quickly a fire can start and spread, often with fatal consequences.
In the past two years, all house fire deaths in Lincolnshire were caused, in some way, by smoking materials.
This year so far there have already been two smoking-related fire deaths.
Julie says the one thing that brought home to her initially how severe the fire that killed her mother had been was when she was asked to provide a specimen of DNA to help identify June’s remains.
She said: “I just couldn’t understand why until the day after her death when I walked into the room with the coroner.
“I wanted to know why did the fire start. I wanted to hear that mum had had a stroke or heart attack and had died before the fire.
“But because of the lack of remains, the cause was put down as accidental death caused by a cigarette being dropped in her chair.
“Mum had not stood a chance.
“They assured me that within seconds Mum would have been overcome by the toxic fumes before the fire engulfed her.
“But that really doesn’t help the image I have in my mind.
“I hope by supporting this campaign and talking about my mum it puts a human face on it and makes it even more hard hitting.
“This is not about the loss of revenue to the Government from the sale of illegal cigarettes – if you want to do that, on your head be it – this is about people’s lives.
“Talking about it now just brings it all back and it’s still very raw and painful – but it is so important that people realise how dangerous these cigarettes are and how quickly they can kill.
“The pain doesn’t get any easier to deal with and you can’t get it out of your mind.
“My husband Ed keeps suggesting that I try to put all the pain and memories into a little box in my mind, but it’s not easy.
“I can’t forget what happened so when I was approached to take part in this campaign I wanted to make sure no one else forgets the message about how deadly these cigarettes are.
“I believe they are still readily available, in pubs and clubs, under the counter in shops and even door to door.
“They are not hard to get hold of, so the only way to make sure they don’t take any more lives is for people not to buy them and to report them if they do know where they are on sale.”
To see the campaign video, go to our website at www.spaldingvoice.co.uk.
Can’t put price on life
Dave Ramscar, chief fire officer at Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue and chairman of Smokefree Lincolnshire, urged people to talk to elderly relatives about the dangers of smoking, particularly when tired or in bed, and reminding them about the importance of ensuring cigarettes are properly extinguished.
He said: “This is such a sad case and one which we unfortunately see time and time again.”
Emma Milligan, principal trading standards officer at Lincolnshire County Council, continues to work with police and HMRC to crack down on the sale of illegal Jin Ling cigarettes in the county.
She said: “This is a real priority for us. Jin Ling cigarettes are so dangerous because they don’t go out when not actively being smoked, potentially causing a horrendous house fire, like the case here.
“Since 2013 we have seized more than 138,000 illegal and counterfeit cigarettes in the county, but we recognise that we need to do more.
“We hope that Julie’s story and the video can raise awareness of the dangers of this brand.
“Although they are cheaper than legal cigarettes, you can’t put a price on life, so please don’t buy them.”
If you suspect anyone of selling cheap illegal cigarettes, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
