In March 2004 a fire broke out in an old storeroom at Underworld when Janice Battersby sneaked in there to smoke an illicit cigarette and dropped her stub onto a pile of clothing. With Mike Baldwin was on the golf course at the time, Nick Tilsley was in charge of the premises however he has distracted by his recent break-up from girlfriend Maria Sutherland and was talking through his problems with his mother when the conflagration began. The other girls had their radio turned up loud and were unable to hear Janice's screams. The automatic fire alarm being set off by the smoke was the first indication that something was wrong and the fire service was called. The premises were evacuated before the firemen arrived and a quick count established who was missing. Nick had returned and he impulsi