Posted on 04/18/2011 12:09:44 PM PDT by eccentric
Investigators learned an occupant utilized a cigarette lighter as a light source while searching for some property under the bed. The lighter ignited fabric on the box springs and spread to the bedding.
Several residents were evacuated from their second floor apartments by ladder as Wichita Fire Department crews battled a two-alarm apartment fire.
Fifteen WFD units from the Wichita Fire Department responded to the call of an apartment fire at 1240 p.m. on Sunday at 1750 N. Minneapolis. Crews located smoke and fire coming from a window at the rear of the building and from the front door to the involved building. Fire crews found heavy fire and smoke in the interior stairway, which cut off that means of escape for occupants. Additional crews utilized ladders to reach occupants on the two floors above ground level. Several citizens were evacuated in this manner, no injuries were reported. The base of the fire was found in a back bedroom, which was heavily damaged by the fire.
The Fire Investigation Unit determined the fire originated in the bedroom of apartment 104. Investigators learned an occupant utilized a cigarette lighter as a light source while searching for some property under the bed. The lighter ignited fabric on the box springs and spread to the bedding. The occupant attempted to remove the box springs from the building, but had to abandon the effort in the stairway due to increasing heat and smoke.
Fire damage was estimated at $75,000 to the structure and $10,000 loss to the contents.
That’s why wine bottles should be square, so they don’t roll under the bed.
I wonder if he found what he was looking for.
You drink and drive? That’s what can best be deduced from your comment!
You just can’t fix stupid....
We can put a man on the moon but we cant produce a square cup holder.
First it’s Chevy Volts and now it’s cigarette lighters. What’s next...bottled water?
IMT1 (Quesinberry) is assigned to manage large fires and provide support to initial attack operations for the West Branch Operational Area in Texas.
Rock House, Texas Forest Service. Fort Davis, TX. Pinyon pine, juniper, brush and slash. Active fire behavior. Structures threatened.
PK West Complex (3 fires), Texas Forest Service. IMT1 (Wilder) ordered. Includes previously reported PK West fire. Sixteen miles northeast of Breckenridge, TX. Brush and grass. Active fire behavior. Residences threatened. Evacuations in effect.
Cooper Mountain Ranch, Texas Forest Service. Fifteen miles northeast of Snyder, TX. Brush and grass. Active fire behavior.
Swenson, Texas Forest Service. Three miles north of Swenson, TX. Brush and grass. Moderate fire behavior.
Wildcat, Texas Forest Service. Nineteen miles southwest of Bronte, TX. Grass. Extreme fire behavior.
Community of Robert Lee is threatened. Evacuations in effect.
Frying Pan Ranch, Texas Forest Service. Twenty-five miles northwest of Andrews, TX. Grass. No further information received.
Little Smokey, Texas Forest Service. Fifty miles east of Fort Stockton, TX. Grass. Structures threatened. No further information received.
6 33 0 0 2 1DHR, Texas Forest Service. Fifty miles east of Fort Stockton, TX. Grass. No further information received.
Hickman, Texas Forest Service. Started on private land ten miles southeast of Midland, TX. Grass. No further information received.
Encino, Texas Forest Service. Thirteen miles west of San Angelo, TX. Grass. Residences threatened. No further information received.
Wichita County Complex, Texas Forest Service. Two miles southwest of Iowa Park, TX. Oak and brush. No further information received.
Sutton, Texas Forest Service. Twenty miles southwest of Ozona, TX. Grass. Active fire behavior.
Cannon, Texas Forest Service. Fifty miles east of Fort Stockton. Brush and grass. Residences threatened. No further information received.
Bryson Complex (2 fires), Texas Forest Service. Five miles southeast of Bryson, TX. Brush and grass. Active fire behavior. Residences threatened.
Pipeline, Texas Forest Service. Started on private land ten miles northeast of Kountze, TX. Pine. Spotting and crowning. Residences threatened.
* Dad’s Corner, Texas Forest Service. Fifteen miles southwest of Wichita Falls, TX. Brush and grass. Active fire behavior. Residences threatened.
Indiahoma Wye, Wichita Mountains NWR. IMT2 (Dueitt). Seven miles northeast of Indiahoma, OK. Timber and grass. Creeping and smoldering. Numerous structures threatened.
* Jackson Ranch, Texas Forest Service. Eight miles south of Caddo, TX. Brush and grass. Active fire behavior.
CR 104, Texas Forest Service. Two miles north of Cisco, TX. Oak and brush. Moderate fire activity. Community of Cisco is threatened.
McPherson, Texas Forest Service. Twenty miles southwest of Sonora, TX. Grass. Active fire behavior. Structures threatened.
Livingston #254, Texas Forest Service. Started on private land twenty miles northwest of Livingston, TX. Pine. Minimal fire activity.
Merritt, St. Johns NWR. Five miles northwest of Sharpes, FL. Timber and grass. Moderate fire activity.
* Middle Pease, Texas Forest Service. Four miles northwest of Matador, TX. Brush and grass. Moderate fire behavior.
Yates Field, Texas Forest Service. Ten miles southwest of Iraan, TX. Grass. No further information received.
4 Mile Road, Anadarko Agency, BIA. Two miles east of Paradise Valley, OK. Hardwood litter and grass. No new information.
East Central, Mississippi Forestry Commission. Fifteen miles northeast of Moss Point, MS. Timber litter. No new information. Last report unless new information is received.
Orphan, Mississippi Forestry Commission. Three miles northwest of Kiln, MS. Closed timber litter. No new information. Last report unless new information is received.
Not the first time this sort of thing should happen
The Coconut Grove nightclub in Boston burned down and killed 492 people in 1942 because a busboy in the dimly-lit basement lounge used a match to see where to plug in a table lamp.
Oh crap, now the dim-o-craps will want to ban cigarette lighters to protect us all. It reminds me of the story I read a couple of years agao about the guy who’s gas gauge was not working, so he used a lighter to try to peer into the fill valve of the gas tank on his car to see how much gas he had. Needless to say, it really didn’t matter after the level-check.
Headline should have been:
Fire started by idiot with cigarette lighter.
First it was guns, then SUVs. Now cigarette lighters are attacking.
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