Smoking determined to be cause of Hobart apartment complex fire

HOBART | Smoking in an apartment containing oxygen tanks caused a fire that destroyed a Hobart apartment building Tuesday and left eight families homeless, investigators said.

"From the fire and heat patterns, they believe the origin was in the lower apartment and believe it was consistent with smoking materials," Hobart Assistant Fire Chief Fabian Martinez said Wednesday.

Firefighters were called to the Shelby Place Apartments, 38th Place and Shelby Place, around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday and found the building fully engulfed in flames. The two-story, eight-unit building was destroyed by the fire.

Four people, including a pregnant woman and her 3-year-old son, were transported to area hospitals and released.

Martinez said investigators confirmed the apartment where the fire started was the same apartment where oxygen tanks were present, confirming resident speculation as to the cause of the fire.

"Those oxygen tanks really made it difficult for us" to battle the blaze, Martinez said.

According to Martinez, smoke detectors were present in the building, "but none of the occupants heard them."

Martinez said fire officials are investigating whether the detectors were working at the time of the blaze.

Firefighters returned to the burned-out building around 9 a.m. Wednesday for reports of smoke. Martinez said an old mattress there flared up and was extinguished quickly.

The American Red Cross assisted the displaced families, providing them with hotel vouchers. Most said they escaped with little more than the clothes on their backs and many said they did not have renter's insurance.