A FIREFIGHTER who died while tackling a blaze was unlawfully killed by two 15-year-old girls who had started the fire deliberately, a jury has concluded.

Father-of-two Stephen Hunt, aged 38, was found collapsed inside Paul's Hair World in Manchester's Northern Quarter whilst attempting to put out the fire alongside his Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service colleagues.

Mr Hunt, who grew up in Whitefield and had been living in New Road, Radcliffe, was one of about 50 firefighters who tackled the blaze, but got into difficulties while inside the building.

A jury sitting at Manchester's Civil Justice Centre concluded that the fire was probably deliberately started by the two teenage girls who had been smoking cigarettes at the rear of the building in Oldham Street.

They then went on to make a selfie video from the scene in which they admitted starting the fire which developed at a fire door and close to a cardboard storage cage during a hot summer's day.

The girls - who are now aged 17 and cannot be named for legal reasons, were arrested in connection with the fire which started at around 2.46pm on July 13, 2013.

In evidence to the inquest they both maintained that they had put out their cigarettes.

One teen witness claimed that one of the girls had admitted that she had pushed a lit piece of paper through the doorway.

An expert fire investigation officer told the jury it was "unlikely" that a discarded cigarette had sparked the blaze and it was more likely to have been a lit leaflet pushed under the doorway that ignited the cardboard.

The 11 jurors had been shown the selfie footage as part of the six weeks' worth of evidence which heard from over 50 witnesses.

In the video - made public by the police, one of the girls - identified only as Girl A can be seen to say, "we're not very happy because we started a fire we actually didn't mean to, seriously".

Girl B then adds, "oh god" before saying: "I put a flyer under. I didn't know it would set on fire. I saw a flame and ignored it."

Girl B went on to be charged with committing arson and being reckless as to whether life was endangered, but prosecutors dropped the charge three days before the trial was due to begin citing that accidental ignition could not be ruled out.

However, senior coroner for Manchester Nigel Meadows said that he would now report his findings to the Crown Prosecution Service who will decide on what action if any should be taken.

Detective Superintendent Peter Marsh from Greater Manchester Police said: “Firefighter Stephen Hunt was a committed professional serving the public in a job that his family tell me he loved.

"He and his colleagues confront danger and go daily into situations most of us would walk away from, and we should rightly thank them for doing this on our behalf

“This makes Stephen’s death particularly tragic and I cannot imagine the suffering and upset that his family and friends have gone through, and continue to go through. It is evident he is sadly missed but never forgotten.

“GMP investigated this case with support from Merseyside and West Yorkshire Fire Services and the Health and Safety Executive.

“This has been a long and complex investigation where we have examined the actions of individuals and organisations in order to establish the facts around Stephen’s death and I hope that now, at the end of the
inquest, his family can fully understand what took place on that day and have some of the answers to the many questions they have had throughout the enquiry.

"A prosecution file was submitted to the CPS at the time of the criminal investigation and a teenage girl was issued with a summons to appear in court for an offence of an arson offence, in connection with the fire that claimed Stephen’s life. This case was later discontinued at court.

“Following the findings from the Coroner’s inquest, GMP will now review the case with the Crown Prosecution Service to determine if any further action is to be taken.”