Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
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This is the scene of a fire at 1100 Mountain Road in Martinsville that killed Curtis Flood, 57, died. A city release said the fire started in a sofa, where a cigarette was left burning. |
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Sunday, February 7, 2010
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
A Martinsville man died during an accidental fire in his apartment early Saturday.
Curtis Flood, 57, of 1101 Mountain Road, Martinsville, was found dead on his bed in Apartment 2, according to a death notice.
Martinsville Fire Marshal Ted Anderson said rescue personnel were called to a smoke investigation there at 4 a.m. Saturday.
When they arrived, firefighters broke open the front door of the apartment and found the blaze nearly extinguished, Anderson said.
The blaze was confined to the one apartment, he said. Once the available oxygen was used up in the unit, the fire started to go out.
“They used very little water, maybe 10 gallons” to extinguish the remaining fire, he said. He added that the apartment was “very smokey.”
The victim was found on his bed in the bedroom, Anderson said.
Improper disposal of smoking material is believed to have started the blaze, he said, adding that the investigation determined that the victim dropped some ashes on a sofa in the living room.
Cigarettes, Anderson said, burn at about 400 degrees.
“It was slow burning” and would have smoldered for quite a while before igniting, he added.
While the fire investigation is completed, the medical examiner’s report is not, so the cause of death had not been confirmed Saturday, Anderson noted. |
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