Authorities: Cigarette fire kills Milwaukee woman

Milwaukee County authorities say a Milwaukee woman has been fatally burned after dropping a cigarette that ignited blankets in a van.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office said Tuesday that 68-year-old Mary Turek died Nov. 25 at Columbia St. Mary's Regional Burn Center.

Authorities say Turek was smoking a cigarette in her husband's parked van on Nov. 21. They say she was resting under a sleeping bag while waiting for her husband to change locks at a nearby building. Her husband returned to find police and firefighters outside the van.

Authorities say Turek was taken to the hospital with burns on 40 percent of her body.