The cause of an early Thursday morning fire that resulted in five injuries to residents and extensive damage to an 8-apartment unit in the Rosewood Park Apartment complex at 4500 Mira Loma Drive was related to an apartment resident smoking while oxygen was in use, according to Reno Fire Department investigators.

 
Arriving Reno firefighters found both upstairs and downstairs apartments on the southeast side of the unit at 4500 Mira Loma Drive fully involved in fire and began assisting residents to evacuate while initiating firefighting operations. REMSA ambulance transported four apartment residents with various injuries to Renown Medical Center and treated another on scene.

 
Investigators said three of the apartments in the two-story, 8-apartment unit had extensive damage and that the remaining apartments primarily had smoke and water damage. The American Red Cross was requested by the fire department to assist the residents with temporary lodging and other needs.
Responding to the call were seven structure fire engines, two ladder trucks, a rescue unit, air support unit with 44 fire personnel including two battalion chiefs, a safety officer, fire investigators, and the Reno Fire Department’s chaplain. Units from the Reno Police Department assisted with traffic and incident perimeter control.

 
The fire, reported just before 1:00 a.m., ignited out when a cigarette was apparently dropped onto the floor by an elderly resident who was using oxygen at the time, according to investigators who also said an explosion heard by residents in the apartments appears to have been the oxygen tank exploding.

Reno Fire investigators say that anyone using oxygen must use extreme caution to avoid fire. Oxygen is colorless, odorless and tasteless, and the presence of an oxygen enriched atmosphere cannot be easily detected by human senses. Investigators said the main danger to people from an oxygen enriched atmosphere is that clothing, bedding, upholstery, even hair can absorb oxygen that can easily catch fire, cause serious or fatal burns, and cause fire to extend throughout a structure. They suggested that rooms in which oxygen is used be well ventilated and that all smoking and open flame should be forbidden.