New and troubling details have emerged about the death of Layla Allen, the 13-year-old girl who was killed in a house fire in Prescot, England, last year, as investigators now believe the blaze may have been set intentionally using a lighter.

At an inquest hearing, officials said the fire that claimed Layla’s life in April 2025 appears to have started in the bedding of a bunk bed in her bedroom. According to testimony from Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service investigator Ruth Baller-Wilson, burn patterns suggest the fire ignited on the top bunk and developed within the bedding before spreading to the mattress, fueled by oxygen from an open window.

Baller-Wilson told the court it was “likely” Layla was asleep at the time of the fire. “Layla was a fit, healthy 13-year-old; she wasn’t trapped, and there was no reason why she wouldn’t have at least been able to get down from the bunk,” she said. “Therefore, I believe it’s more likely she was asleep at the time.”

Investigators said a lighter was likely used to start the fire, though the precise circumstances remain unclear. Baller-Wilson added that if Layla had started the fire herself, she would have expected the teenager to attempt to escape the room.

According to Merseyside Police, emergency crews responded to the blaze at a mid-terraced home on Kingsway in Prescot shortly before midnight on April 2, 2025. Firefighters located the fire in a first-floor rear bedroom and extinguished it by 12:30 a.m. Layla died at the scene. Her parents and five siblings survived.

The inquest also heard that another fire had occurred in the same home about six months earlier, when a different bed was allegedly set alight using a lighter. That incident caused significant damage but no serious injuries. Fire officials said the earlier blaze was attributed to a child playing with a lighter.

After that earlier incident, the fire service offered to refer the family to SAFE (Safety Advice and Fire Education), but those interventions were declined by Layla’s mother, investigators said.

Coroner Anita Bhardwaj expressed deep concern over the pattern of incidents, noting that police were unable to interview the other children in the household because the parents refused consent. That decision, she said, had “prevented [police] from gathering further evidence.”

“I’m concerned about the fact that there has been a second fire within such a short period of time,” Bhardwaj said, adding that social services are now involved because of the “clearly highlighted issues.”

The hearing concluded with an open verdict, as the coroner said there was insufficient evidence to determine who started the fire or exactly how it began.

“There are too many unanswered questions here,” Bhardwaj said. “We don’t know what actually happened. We don’t know who started the actual fire.”

She also issued a stark warning to the family, emphasizing the importance of fire safety education and intervention. “This is the second fire in similar circumstances within a very, very short period of time involving lighters,” she said. “This time, the sad consequence was Layla’s death.”