‘Flash fire’ caused by oxygen tank nearly kills 73-year-old woman in Modesto
A 73-year-old woman was airlifted to a hospital on Monday with severe burns to her face caused by a “flash fire” at an alternative housing building in Modesto, according to officials.
The Modesto Fire Department and Modesto Police Department responded to a former hotel on the 700 block of Kansas Avenue at about 9:40 a.m.. The initial report was that a patient was trapped.
When personnel arrived, they found one of the units in the building had “flash fire” damage. Investigators’ initial observations were that it was caused by an in-house medical oxygen tank.
The woman was taken out of the unit and provided care, according to MFD. Her injuries were determined to be life-threatening, so she was airlifted to a burn center at University of California Davis.
As of Tuesday morning, further details had not been announced.
MFD’s Fire Investigation Unit took the lead on the investigation.
