Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Woman Who Fell into Fireplace Dies

Macomb County sheriff's officials say the woman fell into the fireplace while lighting a cigarette or extinguishing a spent butt.

Update:

A Macomb County woman who was burned after she reportedly fell into her fireplace while smoking has died.

Linda Western, 56, died Saturday at Detroit Receiving Hospital’s burn center after her family had her taken off live support, her family told the Detroit Free Press.

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Our earlier story:

A Macomb County woman’s son’s quick response may have saved her life after she reportedly fell into a fireplace while either lighting or extinguishing the spent butt of a cigarette Thursday afternoon.

Find out what's happening in New Baltimore-Chesterfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The 56-year-old woman’s clothes ignited as she stood near the gas log fireplace, the Detroit Free Press reports, citing a Macomb County Sheriff’s Department news release.

The woman reportedly told authorities that she dropped to the floor and rolled, trying to extinguish the flames, but was unable to put out the fire herself.

The smoke activated the smoke alarm, alerting the woman’s son, who told authorities he found his mother lying on the floor with her clothes engulfed in flames. He unsuccessfully tried to douse the flames with a bowl of water, and eventually smothered the fire with a rug.

The woman was transferred from McLaren Macomb Hospital in Mt. Clemens, then later transferred to the Detroit Receiving Hospital, a Level 1 trauma center, with what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.


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