Firefighters rescue man after cigarette causes small fire
Published Monday January 5th, 2009
The Fredericton Fire Department rescued a man from his Gibson Street home early Sunday morning after he accidentally set his clothes on fire with a cigarette.
Firefighters raced to the residence at 2:26 a.m. and found the man unconscious on his floor.
Platoon Capt. Art VanHorne said the man had called firefighters to report the incident but had collapsed while talking to dispatchers.
"He was basically overcome by smoke and was found on the floor," he said. "I don't know the extent of his burns, but the major concern was smoke inhalation."
VanHorne said the man was later taken to hospital with minor injuries as a precautionary measure.
He said the man must have fallen asleep with a cigarette going and the ashes started a small blaze. The man awoke to find flames burning up his clothing and smoke all through the house.
"The fire was brought under control in approximately three minutes and the man was taken out and attended to," said VanHorne.
"There was heavy smoke throughout the house, but fire damage was minimal."
VanHorne said things could have turned tragic if the man hadn't been able to call the fire department.
"It's certainly a good outcome," he said.
"We got to him early. It could have been a lot worse if we hadn't had the information right away. He had collapsed while on the phone, so the guys knew going in that (dispatch) had lost contact with him."
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