Richard Aguilar burns to death after oxygen tank ignites

Staten Island, New York – Many smokers have caused house fires by falling asleep while smoking. However, for one man on this island of 468,000 people, his fiery death was the result of his oxygen tank exploding while smoking. Richard Aguilar was 51-years-old at the time of his death and no doubt had been warned by physicians about his smoking.

Despite his relatively young age, he was making use of an oxygen tank. The O2 tank was prescribed to partially alleviate his breathing difficulty due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease most likely brought about by his smoking. Thomas Krisko, his husband of only two years, reported that he took a brief nap in bed while Aguilar dozed off to sleep in the living room. When he returned, he discovered Aguilar’s oxygen tank had burst into flames around him.

His husband is deeply distraught and lamented how he and others had plead with Aguilar to stop smoking, but to no avail. Aguilar did survive long enough to make it to the hospital, but he succumbed to his wounds within two hours after arriving. He was not able to regain consciousness and impart any final words to his loved ones.

“We couldn’t get him to stop smoking,” Mr Krisko said sadly. “They couldn’t resuscitate him. I don’t know what to do without him.”

On The Web:
Burned to death after cigarette sets O@ tank ablaze
http://nypost.com/2014/01/13/burned-to-death-after-cigarette-sets-o2-tank-ablaze/