Woman smoking cigarette accidentally sets Danville home on fire

DANVILLE, Va. – Smoking is being blamed for a house fire in Danville.

Around 7:45 a.m. Friday, firefighters responded to 150 Rocklawn Avenue.

"Units arrived on scene, had heavy smoke showing from the attic of the house and they had one victim from the house in the front yard that had already self-evacuated," Danville Fire Marshal Richie Guill said.

The victim lives in the home with her mother.

"(Her) injuries were singed hair and breathing in a lot of the super-heated gasses and smoke, which gave her some difficulty breathing," Guill said.

The mother did not want to speak on camera but said her daughter was smoking upstairs in the bedroom in the attic.

"(The victim) was treated by the firefighters and transferred to the Danville Life Saving Crew, who took her to the emergency room for further treatment," Guill said.

Guill said getting to the fire was tough because it was in the attic, though firefighters were able to extinguish it within 20 minutes. 

"The stairway was very, very narrow, so the firefighters had to get around and get up through the smokey conditions," he explained. "Be very careful when you're smoking, especially around bedding and papers and those types of things."

The home is not livable.

The mother and daughter will be staying with family.