A former fire chief yesterday told a court a blaze that killed a father-of-five was ruled as accidental.
Alistair Spence was an assistant divisional officer with Grampian Fire and Rescue Service when the fire broke out in a flat on High Street, Fraserburgh on May 3, 1998.
Gordon Graham perished in the fire.
Barry Henderson, 42, from Fraserburgh is on trial accused of murdering the 43-year-old, and attempting to kill his wife Anne Graham by setting the fire deliberately.
But the High Court in Glasgow yesterday heard that officers who investigated the fire originally concluded it was accidentally started by a cigarette being dropped onto a mattress which was lying on its side on a stairwell.
Mr Spence said it would have smouldered for some time, and added: “The front door to the close being open would have allowed a draught and the fire would have begun to accelerate.”
In his report, the firefighter – who had 20 years of experience at the time – said it would have only taken two minutes for the mattress to be well alight.
Yesterday, advocate depute Jim Keegan asked Mr Spence if he stood by that conclusion, to which he replied: “On the evidence and knowledge we had at the time, wilful fire raising is always an option and that’s missing from this report and I’m quite surprised.”
Mr Spence told the court he had never seen witnesses statements which described where the fire started, but added: “I don’t think I would change the content of my report. I could only go by the information I had at the time.”
Mr Keegan asked: “Would you still say the fire was accidental,” and Mr Spence replied: “There is always a chance it could be wilful fire raising.”
Mr Spence, who dealt with hundreds of fires, also told the jury about what the crews were met with when they arrived at the scene.
“We were still fighting the fire when I got there,” he said. “We tried to work out where the fire had started and work our way up to where the casualty was found.”
He said there were no smoke detectors in the building, but added that these were just beginning to be introduced in 1998.
Mr Spence said in his report, which was compiled jointly with the police, that there were four main areas of damage caused by the fire – the stairwell, the second floor flat Mr Graham was sleeping in, the roof and the rear of the property.
A box of spent matches was found near a wheelie bin in the common close, but investigators ruled it out as the site of the fire. Other items found in the stairwell included a plastic plant, plank of wood, a set of metal ladders and the mattress.
Henderson is also accused of assaulting a woman in a nightclub in Fraserburgh, by kicking her on the leg and attempting to punch her, and of committing a breach of the peace at a nearby car park on May 3, 1998.
He also faces another charge that he behaved in a threatening manner on a bus between Crimond and Fraserburgh last November. He denies all the charges against him and has lodged special defences of alibi and incrimination.
The trial, before Lord Ericht, continues.
