First up, a doozie I found while checking out The Times in Northwest Indiana:
A two story house in Trail Creek was destroyed by fire when a woman lit a cigarette while on oxygen.Norma Meska told investigators she is on oxygen and was seated on a couch about 1 p.m. Saturday when she lit a cigarette at her home at 3203 Sal Court.
According to LaPorte County authorities, the lines feeding oxygen into her nostrils flamed and she threw down the plastic feed tubes.
Coolspring Township Fire Chief Mick Pawlik said the carpeting first caught fire.
He said the flames fed by the 100 percent oxygen being pumped by a machine into the lines and out into the room spread rapidly.
"The fire kept consuming everything it could," Pawlik said.
Meska called 911 then made her way safely out of the home before the flames engulfed the home, police said.
Firefighters from Michigan City testing some hoses nearby were first to arrive.
Despite the short response time, the fire had already engulfed practically the entire first floor.
Pawlik said portable oxygen tanks were kept in her bedroom upstairs, which sustained heavy smoke damage.
Is this for real?! Turns out that there are a lot more people other than dear Norma who have made the mistake. In fact, in 2002-2005, oxygen administration equipment was involved in an estimated average of 209 home fires reported annually to fire departments, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) report Fires and Burns Involving Home Medical Oxygen. These fires caused an average of 46 deaths and 62 injuries per year. Smoking materials provided the heat of ignition in roughly six in 10 of these fires and fire injuries, and three in four of the deaths.
So all you smokers out there on oxygen - be smart!!
Last year in Indy, a senior on oxygen blew up his room in his independent living senior apartment complex when he lit up a cigarette in bed. He died, but thankfully no one else was hurt.
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