Officials say smoking caused blaze at high rise

Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2004 | 9:35 a.m.

Careless smoking is believed to be the cause of a fire that burned a woman living at a housing authority high rise on Alta Drive near Decatur Boulevard this morning, fire officials said.

Firefighters were called to the James H. Downs Towers about 3 a.m. When they arrived flames were blowing out of a window of an apartment on the fourth floor, fire department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

Firefighters found a woman sitting in a wheelchair just inside the door under an activated fire sprinkler. She was unresponsive and taken to University Medical Center.

Szymanski said she she had first-degree burns, similar to sunburn, over 90 percent of her body and was suffering from smoke inhalation. She gained consciousness and began talking to medical personnel, he said.

Fire investigators believe the woman was smoking in bed and the mattress caught fire. The woman got into a wheelchair but apparently couldn't get the door open, Szymanski said.

Damage was confined to the woman's apartment and was estimated at $15,000. Several other apartments sustained minor water damage. The building houses 235 residents. Those on the fourth floor were evacuated.

The woman's cat died in the fire, Szymanski said.