Submitted by admin on Sat, 2006-10-14 13:21.
A terrible tragedy occurred early this morning here in Melbourne, when a man died in a home fire that the fire brigade believe was caused by a discarded cigarette.
Cigarette likely cause of fatal house fire
Fire investigators believe a fatal house fire at Heidelberg Heights, in Melbourne's east, was caused by a discarded cigarette.
A 56-year-old man died in the front room of the Wordsworth Avenue home about 2:00am.
Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board spokesman Bob Undy says smoke alarms in the house were working when the fire started.
"The smoke alarms had melted off the roof but being the early hours of the morning, it was unfortunate no-one else heard the alarm," he said.