Lisle fire victim smoking while outfitted with oxygen

DuPage County authorities believe an 80-year-old Lisle man wearing a highly flammable oxygen tube while smoking sparked a Monday afternoon apartment fire that killed him.

Investigators determined Ralph Lutfy caused the fire that killed him and injured two other residents of his apartment complex on the 5700 block of Abbey Drive, According to a DuPage County sheriff's office news release,.

Lisle-Woodridge Fire District Bureau Chief Jim French said the fire was contained to Lutfy's fourth-floor apartment. Firefighters found Lutfy alone in the smoke-filled apartment. Lutfy was removed from his apartment by firefighters who handed him off to paramedics who began lifesaving techniques, French said.

Lutfy was taken to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove where he was pronounced dead. The two neighbors were treated by emergency workers at the scene and released.

The blaze broke out around 2:20 p.m., French said. It took about 15 minutes to bring the fire under control, but fire crews were on scene until almost 4:30 p.m. performing salvage and overhaul work.

In all, more than 40 firefighters battled the blaze. Personnel from Downers Grove, Wheaton and Lombard assisted.