Elderly Man Dies After Space Heater Catches Clothes on Fire

Madison Brown, 91, of Centreville, died from smoke inhalation after an overnight fire that started from a space heater. A caretaker found Brown in his bedroom at his one-story, wood-frame house on Brownsville Road, and investigators pronounced him dead on the scene. Preliminary test results from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner indicate he died from smoke inhalation. According to the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the fire started when a space heater touched clothes in Brown’s bedroom. The fire made enough soot and smoke to overcome Brown, but then burned out before doing too much damage. Fire safety information is available online at www.firemarshal.state.md.us, on Facebook under Office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal, or at 1-800-525-3124.