Fatal fire result of 'stupidity at its worst'

TRAGEDY: Claire McKinnon (mother), left, and Georgina Tamiana (grandmother), with a photo of Mihinui Tamiana. PHOTO/FILE

A coroner has described the circumstances leading to the death of a Rotorua teen as "stupidity at its worse", stressing the need for society to be aware of the power of social media and the stupidity of young people unsupervised with alcohol.

Rotorua coroner Wallace Bain today released the findings from the inquest into the death of Mihinui Tamiana held in August this year.

Mihinui, 14, died in the early hours of June 2, 2013 after the Riri St warehouse she and four other teenagers were sleeping in caught fire.

Coroner Bain said Mihinui had no alcohol or recreational drugs in her system at the time of her death and she was the victim of circumstances that were "totally avoidable".

Earlier in the night a party, which had been advertised at schools and through social media, was held at the warehouse and was attended by more than 200 people.

Two petrol-powered generators were in the kitchen area, which had no access to ventilation, and were being used to run lights and the DJ's equipment.

In his findings Coroner Bain said the evidence given in court spoke for itself.

"The advertising of the party amongst young people cannot be underestimated. Some notices at local schools but essentially social media has driven this and in a moderately sized warehouse to have over 200 people... is stupidity at its worst.

"What is even more stupid is the use of the two generators with fuel inside, the attempts to fill them with fuel washing all over the floor and then unbelievably the lighting of a fire lighter in those circumstances which set the whole building alight," he said.

"Society needs to be aware of the power of social media and the stupidity of young people unsupervised with alcohol."

Coroner Bain also explored adolescent brain development and the effects of alcohol on young people in his findings.

He explained adolescent brains were still developing, particularly the prefrontal cortex which weighs outcomes, forms judgements and controls impulses and emotions, placing teenagers at elevated risk when making decisions.

"The area of the teenager's brain that is fairly well developed early on is the nucleus accumbens - the area of the brain that seeks pleasure and reward.

"It's a combination of the underdeveloped prefrontal cortex and a heightened need for reward that drives some of the most frustrating and stupid teenage behaviour.

"Teenagers it seems try these stupid things because they are seeking a buzz to satisfy that reward centre while their prefrontal cortex can't register all the risks associated with their actions."

Coroner Bain said adolescent brain development coupled with alcohol consumption and underdeveloped liver enzymes was a "recipe for absolute disaster".

"This court sees these combinations time and time again and clearly these factors have played a major part in the stupidity surrounding the facts of this tragic death."

A 17-year-old who was living in the warehouse at the time suffered significant burns in the fire. Coroner Bain said police had sought a legal opinion as to whether he had committed any crime but the threshold for a criminal prosecution was not met.