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Official: Deadly house fire Sunday night was accidentally sparked by smoking materials
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BATON ROUGE - Officials say a house fire that killed one person and sent another to the hospital was sparked by smoking materials that were improperly thrown away.
The blaze was first reported around 8:30 p.m. Sunday on Hibiscus Drive. Fire crews say once they arrived on the scene, they found the house completely engulfed in flames.
Margaret Wilson, 74, was killed in the blaze while a male resident was rushed to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
A neighbor told WBRZ that an elderly couple lived in the home. He said he heard an explosion and came outside to find the male resident distraught as he was struggling to get out of the house covered in soot.
Fire officials said one firefighter was taken to a hospital after suffering a heart attack. He was resuscitated at the scene before being transported. The firefighter was listed in stable condition.
A fire department official said improperly discarded smoking materials(cigarette, cigar, etc.) appeared to be the cause of the fire, leading investigators to declare it an accident.
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