Smoking caused fatal blaze in Woburn

By Globe Staff

Fire investigators determined this afternoon that the improper disposal of smoking materials was the probable cause of a fatal blaze at an apartment house in Woburn Monday night that killed a 21-year-old woman. Investigators did not specify whether the fire was caused by a cigarette or another type of smoking material in a release issued by the State Fire Marshal's Office.

Firefighters responded to the blaze on Prospect Street at about 10:30 p.m. Monday and found heavy flames on the ground floor of a three-story wood structure, according Woburn Fire Chief Paul Tortolano. The woman was found in a front bedroom.

"The room that she was in was already flashed over and fully involved," Tortolano said this morning by phone. "Despite the valiant effort of fire and police, in my estimation there was nothing that could have been done."

A man was also in the apartment at the time of the fire. He was distraught but did not appear to be physically harmed, said Tortolano, who interviewed him outside the blaze. The name of the woman was not released pending the notification of her relatives.

There was nothing to suggest that the fire had been intentionally set, Tortolano said.

The bottom floor of the apartment house was completely burned out, and there was significant damage to the upper floors, Tortolano said. Damage was estimated at $200,000. Eight people were displaced.

Smoking has been the leading cause of fatal fires in Massachusetts since at least World War II, when the state began keeping detailed records. In 2006, smoking caused 32 percent of residential fire deaths, according State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan.

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