The husband of a barrister killed whilst helping her kids escape a tragic blaze at a glamping site is suing for more than £200,000 over her death.Ruth Pingree, 42, died during a family staycation at Suffolk glampsite Happy Days Retro Vacations in July 2022, when the vintage Airsteam caravan that she, her husband Roland and their two children were staying in was engulfed in flames in the early hours of the morning.Mrs Pingree - a criminal barrister praised as "an amazing person" who "drew you to her with her smile, her laugh, her heart, her vulnerability and her brilliant mind" - died in the blaze, which a coroner found may have been started by stray campfire coals or a cigarette end outside the caravan, which was surrounded by an area of "flammable" plastic astroturf.Now her widower Roland Pingree is suing on behalf of the family and as administrator of her estate, claiming over £200,000 in compensation from the company that ran the site on a farm near Saxmundham, Happy Days Retro Vacations Limited.Mr Pingree claims the smoke alarm in the caravan was defective and did not sound, costing his wife vital seconds which might have saved her life.But lawyers for the glamping company are denying the alarm was defective.In papers lodged with London's High Court, they also allege that, at the time of the deadly fire, Mrs Pingree was in an "intoxicated state" which "would have significantly impaired (her) judgment, reactions and movements" after "drinking during the day and evening prior to the incident".An inquest into Mrs Pingree's death by Suffolk coroner Darren Stewart in April last year heard the family travelled from their home in Thames Ditton, Surrey, in July 2022 to stay with several other families.Rut and Roland Pingree (Supplied by Champion News)The caravan the family stayed in had a smoke and carbon monoxide detector in the kitchen area, as well as a fire blanket and a small fire extinguisher.On July 23, they socialised with friends around a fire pit in the evening, with some of the adults smoking cigarettes.The owner of the site did a security check around 12.30am, an hour after the last person left the fire pit.The inquest heard there were "a few glowing embers" in the pit at this time, and the weather had been "exceptionally dry" and windy, with hotter than average temperatures for the time of year.The coroner found that at some time between the inspection and 4.30am, a fire started outside one end of the caravan, first catching on the outside before spreading inside, heating the external aluminium cladding of the caravan and causing the door frame to jam shut.Mr Pingree was woken by the couple's children and alerted to the fire and forced open a window as the caravan "had quickly become full of acrid dark smoke".With Mr Pingree outside and Mrs Pingree still inside, they helped the children escape before Mrs Pingree was tragically overcome by the flames and smoke.The coroner said of the dead barrister: "Ruth Ann Pingree was described by her family as an amazing person. Someone who had a quality about them that drew you to her with her smile, her laugh, her heart, her vulnerability and her brilliant mind."She was a person who would make you feel loved and valued and appreciated. A one in a million. A person who was always there for her family and friends and utterly devoted to her children."Happy Days campsite (Supplied by Champion News)Mr Pingree is now suing Happy Days Retro Vacations Limited on behalf of the family his wife's estate, claiming over £200,000 "for fatal injury, loss and damage suffered by the deceased...pursuant to the Fatal Accidents Act 1976."He is also bringing personal injury claims on behalf of himself and the couple's children.As well as claiming the smoke alarm was faulty, he claims a risk assessment at the glampsite was "inadequate" and that there had been no safety assessment relating to the flammability of the awning, artificial grass and interior of the caravan.In the company's defence lodged with their court, its barrister Joel Kendall says: "The defendant admits that it owed the claimants a duty to take such care as was in all the circumstances of the case reasonable to ensure that they would be reasonably safe in using the premises."But he goes on to deny all blame for Mrs Pingree death, saying: "It is denied that the risk assessment was wholly inadequate as alleged or at all. To the contrary, the assessment was suitable and sufficient when benchmarked against relevant government guidance, and was proportionate to the size and nature of the defendant’s premises."It is admitted as a matter of fact that there was no formal assessment of the flammability of the awning, artificial grass and materials within the trailer. No such assessment was reasonably required, given the size and nature of the defendant’s premises."There was a central fire pit positioned at a distance from the individual caravans, surrounded by bricks to prevent fire spread."The central fire pit was approximately 11.5 metres from the right-hand post of the awning."If the cause of the fire was an ember from the fire pit...the small fire had been set in the location of the central fire pit."While the artificial grass was flammable, just as natural grass is, there was sand beneath the artificial grass area."The upholstery within the trailer was fire retardant."It is not admitted that the smoke detector did not operate. The defendant notes that Mr Pingree was at the material time wearing ear plugs."The smoke detector was, as a matter of fact, checked as being in working order three to four days prior to the arrival of the claimants and deceased at the defendant’s premises, as part of the defendant’s changeover routine between occupations. The detector had been purchased and fitted only in April 2021. It was in any event checked on a monthly basis."It is not admitted that the detector did not sound during the fire."If, which is not admitted, the fire alarm did not function, it is not admitted that if it had done then this would have been 'significantly before' [one of the children] raised the alarm, such that there would have been further time for escape as alleged or at all."There were at least five windows of substantial and suitable size to enable escape should the door not be usable, one of which was in fact used by the claimants."The claimants are in particular put to proof as to the movements and actions of the deceased in light of her intoxicated state. The defendant notes that the deceased and Mr Pingree had been drinking during the day and evening prior to the incident, and that on post mortem examination the deceased’s blood alcohol level was 200mg/100ml."Such 'significant alcohol levels' would have significantly impaired the deceased’s judgment, reactions and movements."Such intoxication would mean that a significantly increased sound pressure was required to rouse an individual from sleep."The glampsite, at Wardspring Farm, Leiston Road, Saxmundham, where Mrs Pingree died, has since permanently closed.The case will come to court for a pre-trial hearing at a later date unless a settlement is reached beforehand.