AFR: Homeowner dies in house fire
Agency investigating cause; neighbors reported hearing explosion in home
A man was killed in a house fire in northeast Albuquerque Thursday morning after neighbors reported hearing an explosion.
Tom Ruiz, a spokesman for Albuquerque Fire Rescue, said that, shortly before 8:30 a.m., firefighters were called to a house in the 2000 block of La Veta NE, east of San Mateo. He said when they arrived they saw “light smoke” coming from the front of the singlestory home.
“After fire crews forced entry into the home to conduct fire control and a primary search, they discovered an adult male, later determined to be the homeowner, deceased as a result of the fire,” Ruiz said. “Fire crews continued their suppression efforts, successfully extinguishing the house fire, and conducted a secondary search of the home to confirm that there were no other victims inside.”
He said firefighters were able to contain the blaze to the room of origin, so it didn’t spread to the rest of the house or those nearby. He did not identify the homeowner.
An alert sent out by AFR said the fire was caused by the explosion of an oxygen tank.
However, Ruiz said fire investigators are still trying to determine exactly how it started.
He said neighbors reported hearing an explosion and knew the resident was on oxygen. When firefighters entered, they saw oxygen tanks inside the home, Ruiz said.