A Big Issue seller was found dead at his home in Swansea after a fire at the property, an inquest has heard. Swansea Coroner's Court was told that Liam Sean Harmer was found dead with burns on his body after neighbours alerted emergency services to a fire at his home in Elphin Gardens, Townhill on July 14.
Neighbours saw wisps of smoke coming from the council owned property the 51 year-old lived in and raised the alarm. Fire crews found "significant smoke" in the unventilated living room.
Post-mortem findings
A post mortem showed the provisional cause of Mr Harmer's death was extensive burns and smoke inhalation, the inquest on July 30 was told. The cause of the fire has not been confirmed but Mr Harmer's death is not being treated as suspicious.
Coroner Paul Bennett adjourned the inquest to January 2027.
Tributes to popular vendor
Mr Harmer was a well-known face outside the shops on Sketty Cross where he sold the Big Issue in all weathers, becoming a well known face in the community. After his death floral tributes were left at the spots he was regularly seen at.
Friends, customers, and well-wishers left bunches of flowers outside the Gower Road shop, as well as a photo of Mr Harmer in a Star Trek uniform with the message "Live long and prosper", a Vulcan blessing from the hit TV series. The Big Issue seller was a science fiction fan.
Among those who paid tribute to Mr Harmer following his death was Tom Watts, Big Issue's sales and operations manager for Wales, who had known him for more than a decade. He said: "Liam sold the Big Issue in Sketty, Swansea, where he had been a familiar face for many years. He was very well liked and had built up a strong community of regular customers, many of whom became his friends."
"I knew Liam for over a decade. I first met him in the Swansea office shortly after I started at the Big Issue, and I remember immediately thinking what a genuinely nice person he was. He was one of the kindest vendors I ever met, and I never heard anyone say a bad word about him."
