A 60-year-old Massachusetts woman who smoked a cigarette while on oxygen therapy died from injuries she sustained in a resulting fire Wednesday evening.
Holly Quinn, was in her first-floor Haverhill, Mass., home on Pilling Street when the fire broke out. It was around 10 p.m.
While patients on oxygen are advised not to smoke – both because smoking can damage the airways and because oxygen can feed open flames – around 14% to 51% of users were still smoking, according to a 2006 study.
“An ordinary open flame turns into a killer when exposed to medical-grade oxygen, even in small quantities,” explained Vitas Healthcare.
Firefighters were able to keep the fire in Quinn’s apartment from spreading through the rest of the triple-decker house, said CBS 4. Altogether, around 10 people were displaced but able to get out safely. The Red Cross helped them the night of the fire.
“As soon as they came, they just started bustin’, bustin’ windows out and they went right in,” neighbor Ann Brady said, according to the outlet.
“It was just mass confusion. Never seen that many fire trucks or ambulances or police on the street before,” said Daniel Crowley, another neighbor.
Haverhill Deputy Fire Chief Christopher Link said Quinn was found in the rear of her unit and that ambulance crews were able to remove her from the building and load her into an ambulance.
“I want to express our deepest condolences to the victim’s family and loved ones following last night’s tragedy,” Haverhill Fire Chief Robert O’Brien said in a statement. “I also want to remind the community that smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths in Massachusetts, and smoking on home oxygen is especially dangerous because oxygen makes it easier for a fire to start and spread. If you or a loved one use home oxygen, please don’t smoke.”
Related
Related
