Cigarette to blame for fire tragedy

Jul 10 2006

A MAN died in a fire at his city home after apparently falling asleep while smoking in bed.

The victim, believed to be in his 40s, was discovered shortly before 2pm on Saturday after neighbours in Frances Road, Kings Norton, raised the alarm and called the fire brigade.

Crews discovered that the fire, confined to an upstairs bedroom in the terraced house, was already out, but they then found the man's body in bed.

Divisional officer Phil Jones, of West Midlands Fire Service, said: "We were called at about 1.50pm.

"When we got there, the fire had smouldered itself out, but we discovered a man in an upstairs bedroom, already deceased.

"We believe he died from smoke inhalation due to smoking materials in bed, but a post mortem will have to be carried out to establish the exact cause of death.

"It looks as though the actual fire occurred the night before and eventually burnt itself out."

He added that the fire had been confined to the bedroom.

A fire investigation team is currently looking into the cause of the fire.