Victim was alive when fire started
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
SPRINGFIELD — The woman who died in a fire on Sweetbriar Lane Friday, May 9, was alive when the blaze started, investigators have learned.
The woman, whose identity has not been determined, was breathing at the time the fire started, said Assistant Chief Nick Heimlich of the Springfield Fire and Rescue Division.
Extras
"We have indications that the victim was able to inhale products of combustion," he said.
Officials from the Springfield Police Division continued their investigation at the home Monday, May 12, and are treating it as a "suspicious death," said Chief Stephen Moody.
"Certainly homicide is one of the things we need to rule out as the investigation progresses," he said.
The fire started in the bedroom, but officials have yet to determine the cause, Heimlich said.
No one else was killed in the blaze, he said.
Two children had been living in the house, but neither was in the home when the fire erupted, Heimlich said.
The fire was reported at 12:36 a.m. Friday and firefighters found one side of the home engulfed in flames, according to fire division officials.
Crime scene investigators from the Springfield Police Division were on the scene Friday morning and are conducting a parallel investigation with the Springfield Fire and Rescue Division.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0360 or vlough@coxohio.com.
