Bristol woman dies in fire

BRISTOL — A 48-year-old woman was killed in a fire at her rented log cabin that investigators blamed Monday on a carelessly discarded cigarette.

“The cigarette apparently had dropped in or on a love seat located in the living room. That started a very slow, smoldering fire,” said state Public Safety Department spokesman Stephen McCausland, citing reports from investigators with the fire marshal’s office.

The fire was reported at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday in a two-unit log cabin where the victim, Louise F. Fox, lived alone. All three people in the adjoining unit escaped, McCausland said.

McCausland said Fox’s quarters were fully engulfed by the time firefighters arrived at the cabin, located at the Sherwood Forest campground on the Pemaquid Trail. Her body was found on the bedroom floor.

Eleven people have perished in fires in Maine so far this month. Of those fatalities, six of the deaths occurred in four fires caused by careless smoking, McCausland said.