The presence of the oxygen contributed significantly to the speed with which the fire spread, officials said.
WARE – A Sunday morning fire that left one person injured, and gutted one apartment and damaged an adjacent residence is the latest in a series of Massachusetts fires blamed on cigarettes being smoked near a home oxygen system, according the office of the state fire marshal.
Investigators with the Ware Fire Department and the office of Fire Marshal Steven D. Coan determined the fire at apartment 26A at Highland Village Apartments on Stony Point Drive was caused improper disposal of smoking materials in a home where medical oxygen was being used.
The presence of the oxygen contributed significantly to the speed with which the fire spread, officials said.
Firefighters were called to the scene just before 10:45 a.m. and upon their arrive found heavy smoke and flames in one of the four apartment units. It took 35 firefighters to bring the blaze under control.
The resident of the apartment with the fire suffered minor burns and was taken to Baystate Mary Lane Hospital.
Since 1997, there have been 34 fire deaths in Massachusetts involving home oxygen, including one last month in Westfield. A 72-year-old woman was killed Feb. 25 at General Shepard Apartments in Westfield.
Ware Deputy Chief Ed Wloch said, “We are very fortunate that this fire did not result in any loss of life. Smoking in a home where medical oxygen is used is extremely dangerous to everyone in the building and to responding firefighters.”
The state Department of Fire Services recently launched a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of smoking near medical oxygen called "Breath Easy."