A TEENAGE girl from Bolton once accused of starting a fire which killed a firefighter admitted she had pushed a lit piece of paper through the doorway of the shop, an inquest has heard.

Father-of-two Stephen Hunt, 38, died after while attempting to put out the blaze at Paul's Hair World in Manchester city centre on July 13 2013.

Shortly before the fire started two then 15-year-old girls had been smoking a cigarette each at the rear of the premises shortly before the fire started, the inquest into Mr Hunt's death was told.

The youngster, known as Girl 1 and who is now 17 and cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged with committing arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered but the charge was later dropped by prosecutors.

Bury Times: A 15-year-old girl has been charged over a shop blaze in which firefighter Stephen Hunt died (Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service)

Jurors sitting at Manchester's Civil Justice Centre have previously been told that the two girls had claimed they extinguished their cigarettes using a "scraping" motion.

But a friend of Girl 1 said from the witness box that the Bolton teenager had told her she had pushed a lit leaflet under the door.

Passages of the witness' statement made to police on January 27 2015 were read out.

It said: "The last version that Girl 1 told me about was that Girl 2 had set alight paper or card and Girl 1 had pushed it under the door where there was a crack or gap. 

"Girl 1 told me that she thought that the leaflet was extinguished before she put it under the door but realised that it wasn't.

"Girl 1 also said that after they did this they got up and walked away. 

"This indicated to me that they may have sat in the doorway whilst having a cigarette."

The inquest was told that the rear of the building where the fire was to start was largely used for product storage and that there had been hair dye leaflets in the doorway of the premises.

Bury Times: Paul's Hair World premises in Manchester city centre where a fire claimed the life of firefighter Stephen Hunt..

Bury Times: Paul's Hair World premises in Manchester city centre where a fire claimed the life of firefighter Stephen Hunt..

Jurors were told that the first sign of smoke was at 2.46pm — around one minute after the girls had left the area.

Mr Hunt, of Radcliffe, who entered the building at around 8pm, was said to have become disorientated before taking a wrong turn.

He was discovered at around 8.40pm by colleagues and later died despite attempts to save him.

Girl 1 made a Skype call with the witness in which she said she had been at the scene of the fire.

The witness told the hearing Girl 1 said during the conversation the cigarette had not been put out properly but did not specify whose cigarette it was.

When asked if she was not curious to find out more, the witness said: "I didn't ask a lot of questions."

She said: "I just wanted to know what happened because she was a friend. 

"It kept playing on my mind over the next few weeks, I was asking her about it."

She said Girl 1's account of pushing the leaflet under the door had always remained the same.

Girl 1's barrister asked the witness if she could have "got it wrong" about it being alight.

The witness replied: "It could be a possibility."

An initial investigation by two other fire services determined that the fire had been started deliberately by use of a naked flame.

But a further expert said that it could not rule out the possibility that the fire was started accidentally and prosecutors decided not to proceed with the charge.

The inquest continues.