Carbon monoxide kills 1 in ‘accidental’ Charlotte cooking fire, investigators say
A person died after carbon monoxide was released into a Charlotte apartment building from “unattended” cooking in one of the apartments early Tuesday, authorities said.
Fire officials said they determined the death to be an accident.
Flames erupted just before 4 a.m. in the building on Kelston Place, off Albemarle Road in east Charlotte, fire officials said on Twitter. Twenty apartments were evacuated, officials said.
Firefighters said they removed the patient who died from a second-floor apartment and assisted Mecklenburg Medic EMS at the scene.
Investigators didn’t say if the person who died was in the same apartment as the fire. Officials also didn’t release the victim’s name.
“Firefighters say they forced entry into a second-story apartment where the fire was smoldering in the kitchen,” Observer news partner WBTV reported..
“The fire was out upon CFD arrival; unfortunately the patient did not survive,” the fire department said.
Everyone who evacuated later returned to their apartments after fire investigators deemed CO levels safe, according to the department.
The fire caused an estimated $10,000 in damage, fire officials said.