Smoking is being blamed for a house fire Wednesday afternoon that left a Sugar Hill woman in critical condition. Gwinnett County firefighters got the call about 4:45 to the 5100 block of Stick Court NE. Someone had called 911 to report that they could see smoke coming from the roof of a neighbor’s house.
GWINNETT FIRE DEPT. NEWS RELEASE:
“Firefighters…found no evidence of fire visible from the exterior of a single-story, single-family house on a slab. Neighbors informed firefighters that they believed the homeowner was currently inside the residence.
Upon further inspection, firefighters observed a smoke-filled room. Fire crews deployed multiple fire hoses to control the flames as they entered the home and began a rapid search for any victims. Search teams found an unresponsive elderly female on a hospital bed inside the living room. The unresponsive patient was rapidly removed from the house and delivered to emergency medical crews standing by on the scene.
The patient was transported to Northside Hospital–Forsyth in critical condition. Firefighters knocked down the fire at 5:07 p.m. No other victims were located at the scene.
No other injuries were reported at the scene. Firefighters confirmed that smoke alarms inside the residence had not been activated during the fire. Fire crews rotated through rehab before returning to service. Fire investigators on the scene stated that the cause of this accidental fire was related to smoking products.”