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Careless smoking may have led to GA fire death
The Macon Telegraph, Ga. (July 24, 2008)Jul. 24--BONAIRE -- A dropped cigarette may have caused a fire in which a Houston County man died early Saturday in the mobile home he had recently moved into, authorities said Wednesday.
An autopsy determined that Robert E. Graham, 58, of 103 Sandy Run Road, died of carbon monoxide poisoning, Houston County sheriff's Capt. Robert Clark said.
The 911 call came about 12:30 a.m. Saturday and the mobile home was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, Clark said.
The fire started in the living room of the mobile home and was concentrated around the sofa, the investigator said.
"We don't know for sure what happened. ... The woman who owns the trailer and let the man stay there said he was a heavy smoker. The assumption was that he was smoking and dropped the cigarette on the couch or fell asleep on the couch," Clark said.
Lisa Brooks, who owns the mobile home, told authorities that Graham, who was disabled and a military veteran, often fell asleep on the couch, the investigator said.
Graham's body was found near an exterior door of the home, Clark said.
"Apparently he couldn't get the door open or smoke overcame him before he got out the door," he said.
Matt Mills, an 18-year-old college student, said he was driving down Sandy Run Road on his way home when he saw the fire. He called 911.
A computer science major at Georgia Southern University, Mills said the front half of the home was in flames when he pulled over. He said firefighters were on the scene within about five minutes but the fire had spread rapidly.
Mills said he did not know that someone lived in the home, or that anyone had died in the fire.
Graham, who had previously lived in the home before going to Florida to stay with a brother, had just returned about a week before the fire, Clark said.
The electricity had not been turned on at the home, the investigator said.
The incident was classified as an accidental death, according to a copy of the sheriff's incident report.
Deputy Chief Bill Smith, who is also the chief investigator for the Houston County Fire Department, said when firefighters arrived about two-thirds of the home was on fire.
The home appeared to be vacant, Smith said. "We had no idea that anybody was in the structure," he said.
Although there's no way to be certain, Smith said, careless smoking was believed to be what caused the fire.
Firefighters learned from bystanders at the scene and later from Graham's brother that he had a history of careless smoking, Smith said.
Graham had fallen asleep smoking a cigarette at his brother's house, burn holes had been noticed in the carpet of the mobile home and he previously had been found asleep on the front porch with a cigarette in his mouth, Smith said.
Smith said he believes Graham was trying to get out of the home when he was overcome by smoke.
If anyone wakes up and finds themselves in the middle of a fire, the best advice is not to stand up but to roll to the floor and crawl to the nearest way out, Smith said.
To contact writer Becky Purser, call 923-3109, extension 243.
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Copyright (c) 2008, The Macon Telegraph, Ga.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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