Bremerton woman’s cigarette sets oxygen tank afire

BREMERTON — Bremerton fire officials say a 61-year-old woman was seriously injured after her oxygen hose caught fire while she was lighting a cigarette.

A neighbor, Rodney Jewell, told the Kitsap Sun that he noticed smoke coming out of a window Thursday afternoon and opened the door to her unit.

Jewell says the woman’s wheelchair was spinning in circles. He says her oxygen hose had burned in half and the bottle end was whipping around “like a wild snake,” spreading fire around the room.

Jewell pulled the woman outside and away from the flames.

Bremerton Fire Chief Al Duke says the woman had burns to about 15 percent of her body, mostly her head, and damaged airways.

She was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.