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Cigarette, oxygen bottles fuel fire that destroys couple's Port Townsend duplex  

A cigarette and oxygen bottles combined to fuel a fire that destroyed a home early Wednesday morning, leaving its two residents homeless.

The fire, accompanied by explosions heard from miles away from the home at 1068 Cedar St., destroyed Unit B of a single- story duplex. . . .

Jay Reynolds, who was on oxygen for a health condition, often would get up in the night, light a cigarette and step outside to smoke it, Keplinger said fire investigators determined.

Early Wednesday morning, he apparently lit a cigarette, stood up to go outside and passed out or had a seizure, she said.

"He fell to the floor and pulled a tube on the oxygen tank loose," Keplinger said.

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Lit cigarette, oxygen tank fuel Port Townsend fire 

Firefighters say a lit cigarette and oxygen tanks likely fueled a blaze that destroyed a home early Wednesday, leaving two people homeless.

East Jefferson Fire Rescue spokeswoman Keppie Keplinger says a man who lived at the single story duplex used oxygen tanks for health problems - and that he had the habit of lighting up a cigarette outside in the evenings.

Keplinger says that apparently the man suffered a seizure or passed out, and pulled the oxygen tank loose near the lit cigarette.

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Mom's cigarette ignites oxygen supply; son charged 

A western Pennsylvania man has been charged with neglecting his disabled mother who weighed just 70 pounds when she died of burns caused when her cigarette caught her oxygen supply on fire.

Police say 53-year-old Rosemary McCurdy died Dec. 26 after suffering facial burns from a "flash fire." The woman had multiple sclerosis and had been bedridden for five years when she was burned Dec. 21.

Police say 22-year-old Victor McCurdy didn't take her to the hospital until five days after she was burned.

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Man using oxygen tank dies while smoking 

A Franklinton man died last night when his oxygen tank fueled a fire caused by his smoking in bed.

James Yantis, 57, was killed about 9 p.m., according to the Columbus Fire Division.

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Mount Carmel fire blamed on cigarette, medical oxygen tank 

A Wednesday night house fire on Elm Street in Mount Carmel has been attributed to a person using medical oxygen while smoking a cigarette, a combination that has resulted in several serious residential fires in the region over the past year and a half.

At 8:43 p.m. Wednesday, firefighters were dispatched to 534 Elm St. in Mount Carmel, a residence occupied by Varcilla Jackson, 57, and her father Guy Cobb, 81.

Mount Carmel Volunteer Fire Department Chief Chris Jones said Jackson, who is on a medical oxygen tank, was lying in bed and fell asleep while smoking a cigarette.

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Five injured in fire caused by oxygen, smoking, officials say 

An early Thursday morning fire that injured five people and caused extensive damage to eight apartments in southeast Reno was caused by someone smoking while using medical oxygen, the Reno Fire Department said. . . .

Ambulances took four people to Renown Regional Medical Center for injuries ranging from burns to broken ribs to smoke inhalation. A fifth person was treated for injuries at the scene.

Fire spokesman Steve Frady didn't have details on the injuries.

The fire started when an elderly resident using oxygen dropped a cigarette onto the floor, according to the fire department.

Residents heard oxygen bottles exploding in the fire, the department reported. . . .

Investigators said the main danger to people from an oxygen enriched atmosphere is that clothing, bedding, upholstery, even hair can absorb oxygen that can easily catch fire, cause serious or fatal burns and fire to extend throughout a structure.

They suggest rooms in which oxygen is used be well-ventilated and that all smoking and open flame forbidden.

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Investigators say smoker using oxygen started southeast Reno apartment fire today 

Someone smoking while using medical oxygen started the fire that caused five injuries and also caused extensive damage to eight units at the Rosewood Park Apartments in southeast Reno, the Reno Fire Department said Thursday.

Reports said at least one person jumped from a window while others were rescued from a second-story balcony as fire crews responded to the 1 a.m., Thursday fire at 4500 Mira Loma Drive. It wasn't immediately clear how all five people were injured. REMSA transported four people to Renown Regional Medical Center and a fifth was treated on scene.

The fire ignited when an elderly resident using oxygen dropped a cigarette onto the floor, the fire department said. Other residents heard oxygen bottles exploding in the fire, the fire department said.

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Fire department: Apartment blaze started by smoker using oxygen 

Police say an early morning explosion and fire that destroyed a Reno apartment complex was caused by elderly resident who was smoking while using oxygen.

Several residents of the Rosewood Park Apartments, on Mira Loma Drive, reported hearing an explosion, likely the oxygen tank, at the same time the fire broke out, which was reported at approximately 1 a.m., according to Spokesman Steve Frady.

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Early Morning Rosewood Park Apartment Fire Caused By Smoking While Oxygen In Use 

The cause of an early Thursday morning fire that resulted in five injuries to residents and extensive damage to an 8-apartment unit in the Rosewood Park Apartment complex at 4500 Mira Loma Drive was related to an apartment resident smoking while oxygen was in use, according to Reno Fire Department investigators.

Arriving Reno firefighters found both upstairs and downstairs apartments on the southeast side of the unit at 4500 Mira Loma Drive fully involved in fire and began assisting residents to evacuate while initiating firefighting operations. . . .

The fire, reported just before 1:00 a.m., ignited out when a cigarette was apparently dropped onto the floor by an elderly resident who was using oxygen at the time, according to investigators who also said an explosion heard by residents in the apartments appears to have been the oxygen tank exploding.

Reno Fire investigators say that anyone using oxygen must use extreme caution to avoid fire.

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Authorities: Smoking and Oxygen Caused Reno Apartment Fire  

Investigators say an early morning fire at a Reno apartment complex was caused by someone smoking while using a medical oxygen device.

It happened around 1 AM at the Rosewood Park Apartments on Mira Loma. . . .

Investigators say the loud boom heard initially by residents appears to have been the oxygen tank exploding. Larry Laskowski got out of his downstairs unit just in time, but said he couldn't believe what was happening. "All of the sudden there was an explosion, the front doors got blown in and the walls opposite the door fall in and all kinds of flames and black smoke."

Four people were taken to the hospital for injuries ranging from burns to broken ribs to smoke inhalation.

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• Titusville Housing Authority passes new no smoking policy for tenants on oxygen 

Tenants of Titusville Housing Authority-owned units who use oxygen tanks will not be allowed to smoke in the buildings under a new policy that goes into effect May 23.

Housing authority board members on Tuesday afternoon unanimously approved the policy, which bans smoking even when a tenant's oxygen is turned off.

The policy was drawn up after the authority learned of an incident with Altoona Housing Authority. After the Altoona authority had a fire involving a tenant on oxygen, it was advised to put a policy in place that would protect it from being liable for damages.

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Green woman burned when cigarette meets oxygen 

GREEN — A woman suffered burns to her hands Monday morning while trying to put out a fire that started after she lit a cigarette without realizing her oxygen mask was nearby, according to Douglas County Fire District No. 2.

The woman, said to be in her 40s, had lit the cigarette after waking up in her bed at her home at 2022 Linell Avenue, according to a press release. The oxygen mask she uses for medical treatment caught on fire, and the blaze spread to her bedding and mattress.

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Oxygen ignited by cigarette suspected in serious fire 

A 76-year-old resident sustained third-degree burns over 30-40 percent of her body following a blaze in the 39400 block of Wanda April 1.

Though the investigation was ongoing at press time, officials believe the fire was sparked after the woman, who relies on home oxygen, removed the delivery device from her face while smoking a cigarette, causing the gas to ignite, said Assistant Fire Chief Michael Deprez.

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Oxygen tanks pose hazard, firefighters say 

A woman who combined smoking in bed with using an oxygen system to breathe was taken to a hospital for observation after a fire in her north Springfield apartment was extinguished.

Firefighters called out at 4:30 a.m. to an apartment complex in the 1300 block of East Division Street had to evacuate the complex after they discovered there were oxygen tanks and an oxygen concentrator in the woman's apartment, Fire Mark Fepps said.

The oxygen posed the hazard of intensifying the fire if they had burst, he said.

The woman in her late 50s said she was smoking in bed, fell asleep and was awakened when smoke alarms went off, Fepps said.

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Pa. woman, 76, on oxygen therapy killed when her cigarette ignites the gas, damaging her home 

A deputy coroner says a northwestern Pennsylvania woman on oxygen therapy started the house fire that caused her death by lighting up a cigarette that ignited the gas.

Crawford County deputy coroner Scott Schell says 76-year-old Marian Magee died of her injuries at Titusville Hospital Wednesday afternoon.

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