A JURY is to hear how Poole firefighter James Shears and his colleague Alan Bannon died tackling a blaze in a tower block.

The hearing will take place over the course of four weeks at Southampton Coroners Court.

Mr Shears, 35, and Mr Bannon, 38, died tackling a blaze at the city’s Shirley Towers building. They were colleagues at St Mary’s fire station.

Evidence gathered by police will be central to the enquiry.

The inquest will be presided over by Southampton coroner Keith Wiseman and is likely to include evidence from police and fire investigators.

Police have already disclosed that no one will face criminal charges following the fire on April 6, 2010, after they completed an 18-month investigation and decided not to refer the outcome to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The complex investigation, which was supported by fire chiefs from London, has involved a team of detectives from Hampshire’s major crime department.

A post-mortem carried out in the days after the firemen were killed found that both men had been exposed to excessive heat.

A separate inquiry was also launched by the Fire Brigades Union, which said it would be sharing its findings with the police and Health and Safety Executive.

Mr Shears, from Oakdale, left a widow, Carla, and two young sons, Ruben, then four, and Frankie, then aged six.

His younger brother Gary has since had a baby and named him James in tribute.

Carla got together a team of runners to run last year’s New Forest Marathon for the Firefighters’ Charity.

Mr Bannon, from Southampton, was married to Charlotte and the couple had a young daughter called Abigail.