GILBERT, La. (AP) - The Louisiana State Fire Marshal's Office says a 74-year-old man has died after trying to put out a fire that started in carpet near a wood stove.
 
The man's 70-year-old wife told investigators she was starting a fire in the stove when the carpet caught fire Monday morning. She tried to put it out with baking soda, then woke her husband, who also tried to extinguish the blaze.
 
Smoke got too thick to breathe. She said the fire "exploded" when they opened the door. She got out through a window, suffering a minor hand injury.
 
Their brick house was in Gilbert, Louisiana, about 50 miles southwest of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
 
The fire marshal's office says baking soda is good for small grease fires but in other fires can create blinding smoke.