By Mike Baker
The Associated Press
MOCKSVILLE, N.C. — Investigators are probing whether oxygen tanks may have started a fire at an adult care home that killed one person and left more than a dozen hospitalized, among other possible causes, authorities said Tuesday.
Citing the oxygen tanks used by some residents of Davie Place Residential Care, officials said “an explosion could have happened” and ignited the blaze late Monday night.
“Until the investigation is finished, we haven’t ruled out anything,” assistant Davie County manager Beth Dirks said at a news conference. “We are in the final stages of the investigation.”
Investigators do not believe the blaze was arson, she said.
George Minor of Mocksville was killed in the blaze, Dirks said. Four patients were in critical condition at a Winston-Salem hospital; 15 more were in other hospitals but their conditions were not released.
Fire scorched the front wing of the one-story brick home and left holes in the roof, exposing burned furniture and mangled metal.
Daniel Tuttle, the home’s owner, did not return a telephone message left at his office, but in a written statement thanked emergency workers for responding quickly.