Woman’s smoking while on medical oxygen blamed for fire; 3 injured

By Cara McCoy

Sunday, Jan. 2, 2011 | 9:21 a.m.

Three people were injured in an early morning apartment fire that Las Vegas Fire & Rescue officials said was sparked when a woman forgot she was on medical oxygen and decided to smoke a cigarette before going to sleep.

At 2:34 a.m., firefighters were alerted to a blaze at Las Vegas Manor Senior Apartments, 1700 N. Decatur Blvd. One apartment was gutted and a second had heat and smoke damage, while eight others had a smoke odor, fire department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

The fire, which displaced 10 people, was extinguished at 2:55 a.m. Damage was estimated at $200,000.

The woman who lived in the gutted apartment told fire investigators she decided to smoke a cigarette before lying down in bed; however, she forgot she was hooked up to a medical oxygen device. When she lit her cigarette, the oxygen flashed and started a fire on the bed, Szymanski said.

She grabbed the bedding that was on fire and took it outside, but the bed itself was on fire and the fire extended to the rest of the small apartment. The woman, who was in her 60s, was the only occupant of that unit, fire officials said.

She was taken to University Medical Center with burns to her face. Fire officials said two others were treated for smoke inhalation but had been released from medical care.

Las Vegas Manor Senior Apartments is located along Decatur Boulevard, between Vegas Drive and Lake Mead Boulevard. The complex was built in 1964.