An elderly woman suffered facial burns on Monday when the breathing tube that connects to her oxygen tank caught fire in her home at Springfield Meadows, 4317 N.E. 66th Ave., just north of state Highway 500 and west of Andresen Road.
The call came in at 4:30 p.m. and a fire crew, already at the complex on an unrelated medical call, arrived at the woman’s apartment in about 4 1/2 minutes, said Capt. David James, a spokesman for the Vancouver Fire Department.
When firefighters went inside, the fire was out and the breathing tube, called a nasal cannula, was on the floor. The flooring sustained minor damage.
The woman, 72, told firefighters she is a smoker, but “she said she was not smoking at the time” when the oxygen tube in her nose caught fire, James said.
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An AMR Northwest ambulance crew took the woman to Southwest Washington Medical Center.
Firefighters couldn’t provide the woman’s name due to federal medical-privacy laws that apply to fire departments when they provide medical care.
As a result, her medical condition wasn’t available.
Although it wasn’t known what caused the fire, James said those who use oxygen tanks for breathing problems must be careful.
“If you are on home oxygen, please don’t smoke with it,” he said.
