Heater ignited bedding in fatal Palmer blaze

By Casey Ramsdell, Globe Correspondent

A three-alarm fire that killed a Palmer woman Thursday was caused by bedding coming too close to a baseboard heater, the State Fire Marshal and Palmer Fire Department said today.

The victim, 44-year-old Theresa M. Francis, could not escape her apartment in a four-unit building on Commercial Street in Palmer because of the intensity of the flames, officials said.

“Investigators believe that the blanket came in contact with the electric baseboard heater and that is how the fire started,” Fire Chief Alan J. Roy said in a statement.

Roy said there was no evidence that there were working smoke alarms in the apartment, but fire officials could not be completely sure because of the amount of destruction.

In the same statement, State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan also warned people about the upcoming winter months. He said that heating is the second leading cause of fire in Massachusetts homes. Coan said that items such as bedding, furniture, and newspapers can catch fire as far as three feet away from heating appliances.

He said the Department of Fire Services has launched a KeepWarmKeepSafe campaign this winter to educate the public about protecting their homes from fire in the winter months.

Nine other residents escaped from the 1:15 a.m. fire and none were seriously injured. It was the second fire death in Palmer this year, Roy said.

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