Fatal Orange Fire Caused By Cigarettes: State Marshal

ORANGE, MA—The state's fire marshal has determined that the fire that killed an Orange woman was due to smoking materials and the lack of working smoke alarms in the home.

The cause of the Oct. 19 fatal fire at 43 West Main St. was due to the "improper disposal of smoking materials," said State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey, Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan, Orange Fire Chief James Young and Orange Police Chief Craig Lundgren.

The woman, who lived in the home, died and a man was able to get out through the second floor window before the building collapsed. The fire, which started in the living room of this single family home, was reported at 8:25 a.m. While removing debris, firefighters found the disabled woman near her recliner, where she smoked.

She was known to be a heavy smoker of Newport Non-Menthol Gold 100s and there was abundant evidence of this nearby, said officials.There were no working smoke or carbon monoxide alarms inside the home.

Chief Young said in a statement, “On behalf of the Orange Fire Department, I offer our deepest condolences to the family. This is a sad way to lose a loved one.” He added, “Orange has experienced too many fatal fires in the past few years and in nearly every incident, the lack of working smoke alarms meant there was no early warning of the danger. I ask everyone to make sure they have working smoke alarms before going to bed tonight.”

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