in december 2010, a huge explosion at "the joinery" bar causes a fire to start in number 13 coronation street, the home of the peacocks. joshua is one of the children in the house at the time and is rescued by lloyd mullaney (craig charles). however ashley is killed in the accident, trying to rescue simon's father peter barlow (chris gascoyne). joshua attends his funeral on 16 december 2010 telling claire that he wants to say goodbye to his father.