The Morton Fire Department responded to a structure fire at 11:58 p.m. Sunday. The fire was located in condo number 38 at 2223 Veterans Road in Morton.

At around 11:52 P.M. the condo’s resident, Betty Tucker, 74, called 911 but was unable to speak. Morton’s dispatch center was able to identify the caller’s location from the 911 call and dispatched a police officer to investigate. The officer arrived to find Tucker laying in her front yard and smoke coming from the front door of the structure.

Tucker reported that she awoke to find the chair that she was sleeping on was on fire. There was not working smoke detector in the residence. Tucker, who is normally oxygen dependant, escaped the fire without injury. She is staying with family. Residents located in adjoining condo number 37 were also evacuated.

The fire was located in the rear bedroom of the two-bedroom condo. Firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading and it was quickly extinguished. One bedroom was destroyed by the fire and the remainder of the residence is heavily damaged by smoke. 

MFD investigators determined that the fire was accidental and caused by smoking materials that had fallen into the chair. Damage is estimated at about $180,000. There were no injuries.

Source: Morton Times News