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Investigators say smoke killed fire victim Friday By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune A Friday morning fire probably ignited in a converted living room of an east Medford home and spewed smoke that overwhelmed and killed an 86-year-old woman resident while she was sitting at the dining room table, authorities said Monday. A Monday afternoon autopsy concluded that Harriett S. Bohning died from chemical asphyxiation caused from the carbon monoxide in the smoke she inhaled in the 11:30 a.m. fire at 1500 Angelcrest Drive, Medford police said. Six investigators on Monday dug through the rubble of the home, where Bohning has lived with a niece since Sept. 11, authorities said. Investigators are focusing their efforts on the living room area, and they theorized that the fire's smoke moved into the dining room and overtook Bohning, who was home alone at the time. "That's what most (investigators) are thinking," Medford fire inspector Randy Cooper said. "She could have been confused and overcome by the smoke, or she could have been taking a nap in the chair." "We don't really know what happened," Cooper said. "But smoke can get you really fast, make you confused and all of a sudden, you're overtaken." Fire inspectors have yet to determine exactly where and how the fire started, but arson and foul play are not expected to play a role, Medford police Sgt. Roy Skinner said. Police detectives are prepared to rule Bohning's death an accident, but will wait until the fire's cause and origin are determined before doing so, Skinner said. The fire was discovered when several area residents reported thick smoke billowing from the home in the Eagle Trace subdivision off Hillcrest Road. The home is owned by Judy Bohning, with Mike Scherer and Harriet Bohning also living there, police said. Before firefighters arrived, Scherer came home and found the one-story wood house fully engulfed, police said. Scherer tried to enter the house to look for Harriet Bohning, but he told police the smoke and flames made that impossible. Twenty firefighters quickly doused the flames, and they found Bohning's body. Burn patterns and the depth of charred wood indicate the living room area as the "hottest area where the fire burned" and the area topping investigators' choice Monday for the fire's likely origin, Cooper said. The fire likely built up in the living room, darted into the attic and dashed across to the kitchen area and eventually throughout the house, Cooper said. The fire generated enormous heat, leaving virtually all of the house's contents destroyed, Cooper said. No financial estimate of the loss was available Monday. Investigators have yet to eliminate any potential causes, Cooper said. Bohning was a smoker, but investigators were unsure if that played any role in the blaze, Cooper said. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.