EDITORIAL: Oxygen tanks and smoking a deadly combination
Mar. 23—It seems ironic that oxygen — the gas that makes life on earth possible — can also be extremely dangerous under certain circumstances.
On Wednesday night, a 60-year-old woman died in a fire that fire officials said was caused by smoking while home oxygen was in use.
In addition to the fatality, at least 10 people have been displaced from the multi-family apartment building on Pilling Street in Haverhill.
Pilling Street resident Barbara Leavitt, who lives next door to the building that caught fire, told reporter Mike LaBella that she had raised concerns to authorities about the woman smoking while using a home oxygen tank.
"I had a feeling and so did my boyfriend that something was going to happen," she said. "It's a terrible thing."
Indeed, it's a familiar, sad and avoidable tragedy that happens about once every four days in the United States, according to a report by BPR, a medical gas engineering company.
BPR said that according to a their study — based on Google alerts — "over 500 fires involving home oxygen, resulting in over 300 deaths including two firefighters, have been reported by the US media since 2017."
BPR goes on to say, "There were also reports of over 130 serious injuries, including two firefighters, as well as injuries to nearly 200 other people, among them 17 firefighters and two police officers. Nearly 200 properties were reportedly destroyed during this period, with fires resulting in damage to over 70 neighboring buildings, and over 100 incidents leading to residents being forced out of their properties."
Pure oxygen, which is held under high pressure usually in cylindrical tanks, is generally used for people with respiratory problems. It is a life-giving technology, as anyone who has ever labored for a breath of air knows all too well. But that same substance, when released into the atmosphere, makes materials in the vicinity of that source extremely flammable. Add a spark to the room, such as from a cigarette or a match or a lighter, and normal, household items may spontaneously combust, creating a potentially big fire in a very short amount of time.
The fact that a neighbor had reported her concerns to authorities about someone who was smoking and using medical oxygen is worrisome. It's clearly a safety hazard and something that someone should have done something about.
Therein lies the dilemma, however. Whose responsibility is it to police unsafe activities around oxygen tanks? In hospitals, there are "no smoking" signs everywhere. Sometimes signs also indicate that oxygen is in use, to warn of the potential hazards.
Is it an infringement on someone's personal preferences or privacy to force them to stop smoking when using oxygen? Anyone who has ever been addicted to nicotine knows how hard it is to quit, so it's easy to see why these accidents happen.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Safety has a series of web pages devoted to the dangers of smoking while using medical oxygen. Nowhere does it say it's illegal. It only advises people not to smoke or, if they have to, to turn off the oxygen, wait 10 minutes until it clears, and go outside to light up.
"When oxygen is used in the home, the amount of oxygen in the air, furniture, clothing, and hair goes up, making it easier for a fire to start and spread," according to the state website. "As more and more people are bringing medical oxygen into the home, they need to understand the new fire risks they also bring into the home. Physicians and other caregivers play a key role in educating patients about the safe use of oxygen."
While education is key to understanding the dangers of medical oxygen, maybe it's time lawmakers take a closer look at how home-based oxygen therapies are being administered, regulated and overseen, so that such accidents don't continue to happen in the future.