Post mortem examinations reveal hero firefighters James Shears and Alan Bannon died from exposure to excessive heat (From Bournemouth Echo)

Post mortem examinations reveal hero firefighters James Shears and Alan Bannon died from exposure to excessive heat

10:11am Friday 9th April 2010 in

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BOTH firefighters killed tackling the Southampton tower block horror blaze died from exposure to excessive heat, post mortem results reveal.

Brave dad-of-two Jim Shears, 35, from Poole, and his 38-year-old colleague Alan Bannon died following the blaze at 15-storey Shirley Towers.

Examinations were carried out on both men at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester yesterday afternoon.

Home Office pathologist Dr Huw White concluded that both men died “as a result of excessive heat”, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed.

The families of the two firefighters, who were both married fathers, have been informed of the results of the post mortems.

A date has yet to be set for the opening of an inquest into the their deaths.

Hampshire fire chief John Bonney said: “These two men risked their lives to save those of others and as a result gave their own.

“I would like to express my sincerest condolences to James and Alan’s families as well as to their friends and colleagues within the service, they will be sadly missed.”

Both experienced firefighters, from Red Watch at St Mary’s fire station in Southampton, were among the first to enter the tower block after fire broke out on the ninth floor at around 8pm on Tuesday.

One man was pronounced dead at the scene while the other died at Southampton General Hospital.

Yesterday, friends relatives and colleagues attended a special wreath-laying ceremony outside the tower block in their honour.