An inquest has heard how the blaze that killed a 90-year-old war veteran the day before Remembrance Sunday probably started from an electric fire left too near a chair in a downstairs living room.
Boysie, as Harold Porter was known, was dead when he was found at the bathroom window while standing in the bath of his three-bedroom council house in Snakes Hill.
A post mortem examination showed he died from smoke inhalation and burns in the fire that broke out in the downstairs living room at about 12.30pm on November 4 last year.
The inquest, held last Thursday in Chelmsford, heard firefighters had been initially forced back by the ferocity of the heat and smoke that had spread rapidly, trapping the Second World War veteran upstairs.
Mr Porter had struggled with his mobility, suffering from severe arthritis, osteoporosis, sciatica and the lingering effects of malaria that he caught in Asia.
It was only a coordinated effort from fire crews wearing breathing apparatus entering from both the front and the rear of the three-bedroom property, that they were able tackle the blaze successfully.
It was at about 12.30pm that Boysie's 70-year-old friend Wilf Ellis, who lives close by but who had been helping the ex-Essex Regiment soldier, get up, found the fire was already well underway when a smoke alarm was triggered.
His attempts to extinguish the fire with water from the kitchen and from an outside hose were unsuccessful.
Investigating fire Phil Pidgeon, a firefighter for 25 years, said the electric heater was so badly damaged that it was impossible to ascertain whether it was on or not when the blaze began.
He said: "However, that was where the fire had originated and the evidence showed that the chair was the first to ignite and the blaze spread from there."
The house, where Boysie lived alone, was strewn with combustible paper and books, thought to have readily ignited and allowed the fire to easily spread.
An open fire grate had not properly caught fire and was not to blame for the fire, the inquest heard.
There was no evidence the fire had originated from a cigarette or that it had been started deliberately.
"It was a very rapid and fierce fire," Mr Pidgeon said.
"Firefighters found Mr Porter standing in the bath hanging out of window. Crews were unable to see him from outside due to the smoke."
Mr Porter, a tree surgeon by trade, had served in North Africa, Italy and Burma during the war and for many years was a regular at the annual Remembrance Day commemorations in Brentwood.
Originally from Kelvedon Hatch, he lived alone and was a regular contributor to the Gazette.
Essex Coroner, Caroline Beasley-Murray, said she could not rule that the death of Harold Porter was caused by an accident and instead returned an open verdict.
"We may never know what happened," she said.
