Man dies in east Charlotte apartment fire caused by careless smoking, CFD says

CHARLOTTE — A man died in an early morning apartment fire on Friday, and the Charlotte Fire Department says the fire started from “careless smoking.”

CFD responded to a smoke odor call around 5:30 a.m. at an apartment complex on Frontenac Avenue near Eastway Drive.

At the scene, responding firefighters found one unit with signs of an extinguished fire and rescued one person with serious injuries. First aid was given to the victim at the scene, but he died from his injuries.

CFD says the fire only impacted one apartment and was self-extinguished. Officials did not say how the fire was put out or if the man put it out himself.

At the scene, veteran crime reporter Glenn Counts saw a soot-covered door and the window that firefighters smashed in to save the victim. Residents in the complex, who didn’t want to be on camera, said they smelled smoke early this morning.

“Somebody knocked, but I didn’t really answer because I didn’t know who it was, and then, later on, I smelled a little smoke.”

An upstairs neighbor saw the victim as firefighters dragged him out of the smoke-filled unit.

“They dragged him out of the smoke and tried to revive him, but he got too much smoke or something; I don’t know, inhalation, yeah.”

The Arc of North Carolina operates the apartment building. The group provides both programs and housing to adults suffering from intellectual liabilities or severe, persistent mental illness.

The resident told Counts that the victim was mainly kept to himself, and he wasn’t seen too often, but the community will miss him.

“Yeah, he’ll be missed, yeah, yeah, of course.”

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