In Carson: Smoking in bed likely the cause of fatal apartment fire

Smoking in bed likely caused a fire Saturday that eventually claimed the life of a Carson City man, an official said Tuesday.

Wayne Reed Yohn, 48, was burned over 24 percent of his body. He succumbed to his injuries at the University of California, Davis Regional Burn Center in Sacramento on Sunday night.

Carson City Sheriff's Detective Craig Lowe said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but that cigarettes were found in Yohn's bed, and it appears the mattress of the bed caught fire. He said the flames inside Yohn's 400 S. Saliman Road apartment were so hot, the smoke detectors were melted.

Yohn, whose blood alcohol content was determined to be at .30, was likely passed out when the fire started, said Lowe. The recently unemployed quality control inspector apparently tried to escape the home, but only made it as far as the hallway where fire crews discovered him.

"It was an accident," said Lowe.

Firefighters contained the damage to Yohn's second-story apartment at the corner of Saliman Road and Fifth Street.

Surrounding apartments were evacuated for about two hours.

An official cause of death has not been determined, according to the Sacramento County Coroner's Office.