Woman Hurt in Fire Started by Cigarette
A woman suffered second-degree burns on her leg and smoke inhalation when a fire erupted on the couch where she had fallen asleep with a lit cigarette, authorities said.
Martha Lopez was treated at St. John’s Regional Medical Center after the 3 a.m. fire Sunday at Plaza Vista, a city-run apartment building for senior citizens at 801 South C St., said Terry McAnally, a battalion chief in the Oxnard Fire Department.
The fire forced the temporary evacuation of 40 people who live on the second floor of the six-story building. A ceiling sprinkler kept the flames contained to the couch, but smoke and water damage to the one-bedroom apartment was estimated at $20,000, McAnally said.
Lopez, 51, had been cleaning and boxing up the belongings of her aunt, who lived in the apartment before her recent death, said Haywood Merricks, a Fire Department battalion chief.
“She worked all day and decided to sleep,” Merricks said.
The fire was under investigation but Lopez was not expected to be cited, Merricks said.
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