Police say woman, 92, died after her clothes caught fire
A 92-year-old Arlington woman who died Friday after a fire in her apartment, was apparently boiling water for her evening tea when the stove ignited her clothing, police said yesterday.
Officers and firefighters found Sophie Brady with serious burns on 80 percent of her body when they responded to a report of a fire in the Chestnut Manor apartment building on Medford Street just after 7:30 p.m. She died a short time later at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Police Chief Frederick Ryan said Brady's was the first death attributed to fire in town this year and the second consecutive fire fatality in which the victim's clothing ignited. In September, Louise Farrell, 55, died when her clothes caught fire from a cigarette, Ryan said.
"This is a very sad occurrence for the town of Arlington," he said.
Brady's death was a blow to other residents in the apartment building, most of them seniors. Her neighbors said that most residents know and often help one another.
Nella Robichaud, 86, and Cathy Greenland, 85, said they had known Brady for nine and 16 years, respectively, and described her as a kind woman who once served as an elected leader of the tenants association.
They said Brady, who enjoyed drinking tea, was largely confined to her apartment in recent years as her health and eyesight declined.
"She was a very, very nice lady," Robichaud said. "Whenever we would have dinners, like a special St. Patrick's dinner and things, we would bring it up to her."
The seven-story Chestnut Manor building has 100 units and is owned by the Arlington Housing Authority as a state-subsidized complex for the elderly and disabled, said John Griffin, the agency's executive director. Brady had lived in the building since 1980, Griffin said.
Richard Annable, 71, who lives down the hall, said that he and another neighbor were the first to find Brady. He said they found her leaning over the kitchen sink, possibly in an effort to douse the flames. It was too late.
"The poor thing - it was like she couldn't help herself," Annable said.
Ryan said that the fire was confined to the kitchen and that the cause appears to have been accidental.
Griffin said that the apartments in the building all have fire alarms and sprinklers and that they were working at the time of the fire. Heat detectors in Brady's apartment were tripped by the fire, which set off the alarm, he said. But the fire was not strong enough to set off the sprinklers, Griffin said.
"I was in shock, especially when I saw the poor woman," Annable said. "It was something you never forget. I feel so sorry for the lady and her family, whoever they are."
Brady has no family in Massachusetts, Griffin said. The only relative authorities could locate was a nephew in Maryland.
The Arlington police and fire departments, the state fire marshal's office, and the Middlesex district attorney's office were investigating.
Clarification: A story in yesterday's City & Region section about a fatal fire in Arlington was unclear about neighbor Richard Annable's presence. Annable was among a number of people who together saw the deceased woman, and he says he saw her from the hallway and did not enter the apartment.
