TILFORD, S.D. (AP) - Authorities say smoking caused last month’s fire that killed an 82-year-old man and a firefighter in western South Dakota.
Meade County Sheriff Ron Merwin told the Rapid City Journal in an email Wednesday that the fire was caused by “a cigarette being smoked in bed while on oxygen.”
The fire started in the home of Raymond Joseph Bachmeier in the small town of Tilford on Sept. 7. Bachmeier died along with 43-year-old firefighter David Fischer of Sturgis, who was hit by a piece of propane tank that exploded.
The fire was investigated by the South Dakota State Fire Marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
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Information from: Rapid City Journal, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com
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