By Brett Barrouquere
The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A cigarette left burning near a chair likely caused the house fire that killed 10 people earlier this month, a top fire official said Thursday, citing an astray found nearby.
“The cigarette is our hot energy source,” said Rob Goodwin, the chief deputy fire marshal. “It starts building from there.”
The victims, four adults and six children in an extended family, all died from smoke inhalation in the Feb. 6 fire in Bardstown. One person survived with non-life threatening injuries.
An ashtray was found near the chair, and the burn pattern indicates that location was the fire’s starting point, he said.
Goodwin declined to say which of the victims left the cigarette. Investigators previously said some of the adults in the house were regular smokers.
The cigarette burned for about 40 minutes, producing toxic smoke, before anybody noticed, Goodwin said. The smoke initially was not enough to kill the victims, but the fire began spreading to furniture and walls, then engulfed the house, Goodwin said.
From where the victims were found, it appears they were trying to escape the fire, but couldn’t get out, Goodwin said.
“It’s only going to take a couple of breaths of this toxic smoke before you become disoriented, dizzy, start stumbling around,” Goodwin said.
Having a fire caused by a cigarette spread quickly is not uncommon, said Richard Peddicord, assistant director of the Kentucky Division of Fire Prevention and an assistant fire marshal.
“Once a fire starts, it can advance rapidly with all the things we bring into our homes, plastics and things that are chemically treated,” Peddicord said. “It’s a pretty dramatic effect.”
A gas leak, arson and electrical problems were all ruled out as possible causes within days of the fire.
One smoke detector was found, but investigators were unable to determine if it worked, Goodwin said. None of the neighbors recalled hearing a smoke alarm, Goodwin said.
Family members were notified of the fire report’s conclusion early Thursday.
The Kentucky Legislature is considering legislation requiring cigarettes sold in Kentucky to be made out of fire-safe paper, which extinguishes itself when left alone.
So far, six other states have passed legislation requiring manufacturers to sell only cigarettes equipped with fire-stifling “speed bumps.” Similar measures are pending in more than a dozen other states, supporters said.
“It will definitely save lives,” Russ Sanders, a spokesman for the National Fire Protection Association, told a Senate committee. He also said such cigarettes don’t cost more to make or taste different.
The fire was the worst in Kentucky since the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in 1977, which killed 165 people.