THE husband of a hero mum who died saving her kids in a glamping site blaze is suing for £200,000 over her death.
Ruth Pingree, 42, was staying at Happy Days Retro Vacations in with husband Roland and their two children when their vintage Airsteam caravan erupted into flames.
Ruth was killed while on a family holiday Credit: Champion News Service
The vintage Airsteam caravan was engulfed in flames Credit: East Anglia News Service
The criminal barrister heroically got her kids to safety but was tragically overcome by the flames and smoke.
A coroner previously ruled the fire may have been started by stray campfire coals or a cigarette end outside the caravan, which was surrounded by an area of “flammable” plastic astroturf.
Roland is now suing on behalf of the family and as administrator of her estate, claiming over £200,000 in compensation.
He claims a risk assessment at the glampsite was “inadequate” and that there had been no safety assessment relating to the flammability of the awning, artificial grass and interior of the caravan.
Roland also alleges a smoke alarm in the caravan was defective and did not sound – costing his wife vital seconds which might have saved her life.
But lawyers for the company – Happy Days Retro Vacations Limited – are denying the alarm was defective.
They also claim Ruth was in an “intoxicated state” which “would have significantly impaired (her) judgment, reactions and movements” after “drinking during the day and evening prior to the incident”.
Barrister Joel Kendall said: “The defendant admits that it owed the claimants a duty to take such care as was in all the circumstances of the case reasonable to ensure that they would be reasonably safe in using the premises.”
But he told the the company denies the risk assessment was “wholly inadequate” and was in fact “suitable and sufficient when benchmarked against relevant government guidance”.
Mr Kendall said there was sand under the artificial grass area and that the upholstery within the trailer was fire retardant.
He added: “It is not admitted that the smoke detector did not operate. The defendant notes that Mr Pingree was at the material time wearing ear plugs.
“The smoke detector was, as a matter of fact, checked as being in working order three to four days prior to the arrival of the claimants and deceased at the defendant’s premises, as part of the defendant’s changeover routine between occupations. The detector had been purchased and fitted only in April 2021. It was in any event checked on a monthly basis.
“It is not admitted that the detector did not sound during the fire.”
The barrister also claims there were five windows of “substantial and suitable size” to escape through – with one used by one of the family members.
An inquest was previously told the family travelled from their home in Thames Ditton, , in July 2022 to stay with several other families.
The caravan the family stayed in had a smoke and carbon monoxide detector in the kitchen area, as well as a fire blanket and a small fire extinguisher.
On July 23, they socialised with friends around a fire pit in the evening, with some of the adults smoking cigarettes.
The owner of the site did a security check around 12.30am, an hour after the last person left the fire pit.
There were “a few glowing embers” in the pit at this time, and the weather had been “exceptionally dry” and windy, with hotter than average temperatures for the time of year, it was said.
The coroner found at some time between the inspection and 4.30am, a fire started outside one end of the caravan.
Flames then spread inside – heating the external aluminium cladding of the caravan and causing the door frame to jam shut.
Roland was woken up by the couple’s children and forced open a window as the caravan “had quickly become full of acrid dark smoke”.
After he escaped, he and Ruth helped the children out but the mum tragically could not be saved.
Roland is suing Happy Days Retro Vacations Limited “for fatal injury, loss and damage suffered by the deceased…pursuant to the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.”
He is also bringing personal injury claims on behalf of himself and the couple’s children.
The glampsite, at Wardspring Farm, Saxmundham, has since permanently closed.
The case will come to court for a pre-trial hearing at a later date unless a settlement is reached beforehand.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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