Unsupervised smoking in nursing homes
Va. Report Criticizes Care Center In Fatal Fire
By William Branigin Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, December 22, 2000; Page B1
A Fairfax City nursing home failed to adequately supervise a terminally ill woman who was
fatally burned in a smoking lounge, according to an investigation by the Virginia
Donna Baker, a 30-year-old AIDS patient, died Oct. 13 after a fire she apparently started by
accident while smoking alone in an out-of-the-way lounge at Inova Commonwealth Care
Center. The fire consumed her wheelchair and left Baker with second- and third-degree
burns over 98 percent of her body. She died a few hours later at Washington Hospital
The 137-bed nursing home "was not in compliance" with a state regulation requiring
facilities to "ensure that each resident receives adequate supervision and assistance devices
to prevent accidents," according to a report last month on the Health Department