By Matt Tullis
The Columbus Dispatch
Copyright 2007 The Columbus Dispatch
All Rights Reserved
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A charred recliner sat in the grass outside Woodridge Place, a West Side apartment complex for people with hearing and mobility disabilities.
A 45-year-old woman was sitting in that chair yesterday afternoon when she tried to light a cigarette while hooked up to home oxygen, Columbus Fire Battalion Chief Doug Smith said.
The oxygen turned the lighter into a torch, severely burning the woman, Smith said.
The woman, whose name wasn’t released last night pending notification of relatives, died at 2:38 p.m. at Mount Caramel West. She had suffered burns to her face and smoke inhalation.
Firefighter Joe McGee said he and Lt. Dan Ranney had to force open the door to the woman’s apartment because she had collapsed against it.
“We heard moaning so we knew there was a victim behind the door,” McGee said.
McGee slung the woman over his shoulder and felt his way down the hall and out of the building, which had filled with thick, black smoke.
Doris Collins, 77, lives next door. She said she was about to take a shower when a smoke alarm went off.
“I turned the corner and saw smoke pouring out,” Collins said.
The victim had lived in the apartment complex, which is run by Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio at 3565 Clime Rd., for a couple of years, Collins said.
“She always spoke when she saw us,” Collins said. “She was awful nice.”
Inside the woman’s apartment, the oxygen line was burned into the carpet, snaking from the recliner in the living room into the bedroom where the oxygen canister was located.
Floral curtains blackened by fire and twisted blinds hung out of the window. A framed picture of two young men, along with magazines, was on the window sill.
The fire caused about $10,000 in damage to the building, Smith said, but the fire was contained to the woman’s apartment.
Two other residents suffered minor injuries. One was taken to Doctor’s West Hospital but the other refused to go, Smith said.