Smoke Inhalation Death

A 50-year-old woman in Baza died from smoke inhalation early yesterday morning.

GRA ALT Baza House Fire MR23The emergency services received a call around 07.30h, alerting them to a fire on Calle Sierra de Cazorla.

The Baza fire service was immediately despatched, together with the Policía Nacional, Policía Local and an ambulance.

According to the fire service Spokesperson, the house was completely full of toxic smoke.

A source says that the woman had  fallen a sleep with a lit cigarette in her hand. When she awoke, she must have tried to make it to the window but collapsed before she got to it, owing to the smoke that she had already inhaled.

It was the husband who found her lying on the floor inside and who dragged her out into the street but he was unable to revive her. When the ambulance arrived, although they applied CPR, there was nothing that they could do for her.

The room where  she was found was completely blackened by smoke but there had been no fire damage other than this – the temperature in the room was not excessive, as it would have been had there been a lot of flames. In other words, whatever had produced the smokes had only smouldered.

There has yet to be an autopsy but the prime hypothesis is that she  died from smoke inhalation.

Editorial comment: inhaling smoke for a short time can cause immediate (acute) effects. Smoke is irritating to the eyes, nose, and throat, and its odour may be nauseating. Studies have shown that some people exposed to heavy smoke have temporary changes in lung function, which makes breathing more difficult.

(News: Baza, Altiplano, Granada, Andalucia)

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