BROCKTON, MASS. (WHDH) - One person was injured Saturday in a Brockton apartment fire caused by smoking while using oxygen, announced Brockton Fire Chief Brian F. Nardelli and State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey.
Firefighters responding to a reported fire at an apartment complex on Stillman Avenue around 11:15 a.m. found that the residents of the building had extinguished the fire and pulled an unresponsive person from the building, according to Brockton fire officials.
Emergency crews were able to revive the person, who was then taken to an area hospital.
“There is no safe way to smoke, but smoking on home oxygen is especially dangerous,” said Chief Nardelli. “A fire can start easier, burn faster, and grow larger in an oxygen-rich environment, placing oxygen users at great risk if they smoke.”
In 2021, three deaths in Massachusetts were linked to smoking while on home oxygen.
“If you or a loved one use home oxygen, please don’t smoke. Hair, clothing, bedding, and upholstery saturated with oxygen can ignite much more easily,” said State Fire Marshal Ostroskey.”
Fire officials advise people who use home oxygen that must smoke to disconnect the oxygen, wait 10 minutes, and go outside to do it.
Although it is not safe, fire officials say this method reduces the danger posed by oxygen-saturated hair and clothes.
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