Fire at Harford Memorial Began with Cigarette: Fire Marshal

HAVRE DE GRACE, MD — A man who had been a patient at Harford Memorial Hospital is now in critical condition at the Johns Hopkins Burn Center after he lit a cigarette in his hospital bed, which started a fire, officials say.

Steven K. Bock, 60, lit a cigarette that ignited his oxygen mask and surrounding bedding material, according to the Office of State Fire Marshal.

At 10:42 p.m., the Susquehanna Hose Company responded after hospital staff pulled the fire alarm on the third floor of the hospital when a patient yelled “fire,” the fire marshal reported.

Upon discovering the situation in Bock’s room, hospital staff members were able to extinguish the fire and treat Bock, who was having difficulty breathing, according to the report. The fire had spread to the oxygen tubing and created a small fire next to the bed, the report said.

Bock was transferred to Johns Hopkins Burn Center, where the fire marshal said he was listed in critical condition Sunday morning.

“Oxygen is not flammable and will not explode,” the fire marshal said in a statement. “However, an oxygen-enriched environment can cause materials to ignite more readily and burn at a faster rate than normal.”