Fire At Edgemere Senior Home Was Triggered By Cigarette Igniting Medical Oxygen, Officials Say

EDGEMERE, Md. (WJZ) -- A fire that displaced at least nine residents and left one woman seriously injured on Sept. 16 was started by the woman smoking a cigarette near medical oxygen tubing, officials said.

Crews reported at 10:30 to the 2800 block of Lodge Farm Road. Officials said the fire was on the fourth floor, and it was extinguished within an hour.

Investigators determined the woman was 64-year-old Darnell Louise Hall and she was smoking on a couch while using oxygen. A fire ignited and trailed along the oxygen tubing, eventually burning the woman and igniting the couch she was sitting on.

Officials said medical oxygen is enriched, so it greatly increases the fire hazard because it makes fire burn hotter and spread faster.

Hall was hospitalized in critical condition, but she has now been pronounced dead. Three other residents suffered minor injuries.

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• Fire
• Baltimore County