Woman killed in fire in her Tacoma apartment; no other injuries

KCPQ-TV



TACOMA -- A woman was killed in a fire in her basement apartment on I Street in Tacoma late Tuesday morning.

At least 36 people were evacuated as smoke began filling the building.

Tacoma Fire tweeted the location of the blaze around 11:30 a.m.:



The fire was put out by a building sprinkler system, firefighters said.

Jerrie Croutch lives down the hall from the woman who died in the fire.

"She was kind of elderly and kind of sick, you know? She couldn't help herself, she had a caregiver," she said. "I know she smoked and had oxygen. But I don't know if that's what caused it."

Investigators determined the fire started in a chair in the elderly woman's apartment and was likely caused by smoking materials.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.