Danny Lynchard's Kevo

Smoking in bed caused fatal fire, officials say. Investigators have determined that a man's smoking in bed caused a fatal fire this weekend. Billy Joe Smith died at the scene of the blaze early Sunday, Fire Capt. Larry Bowles said. The fire originated in a bedroom of a house in the 100 block of South 36th West Place, Bowles said. Smith had a habit of smoking in bed, witnesses told investigators.

Another man who was sleeping in a shed outside the house saw the fire and went inside to awaken Smith and another man. Smith said he was going to try to fight the fire and did not leave the burning house with the other men, Bowles said. Firefighters rescued Smith from the house but were unable to revive him. Bowles said Smith suffered some burns but likely was overcome by the superheated gases and smoke in the house.

His official cause of death is pending with the Medical Examiner's Office. Bowles said that in a similar situation, people should call 911 and not try to extinguish a fire by themselves. Authorities believe that Smith was in his mid- to late-60s. His parents, who are deceased, were from Hazlehurst, Miss..

The Fire Department's chaplain has not been able to find any other family members, Bowles said. Anyone who knows how authorities can reach Smith's family is asked to call the Rev. Danny Lynchard, head of the Tulsa Police/Fire Chaplaincy Corps, at 596-9138 or the Medical Examiner's Office.
October 24, 2006 Tulsa World article