KEYES AVE. FIRE: Fire detection system wasn't connected in apartment

Spent cigars, two lighters and match ends found throughout apartment 6 at 149 Keyes Ave., early Thursday morning as fire investigators sifted through debris in the gutted ground-floor unit.

The resident, William H. Stitt, 65, was found dead near a door that would have been his escape to the outdoors. The door was slightly ajar, according to City Fire Battalion Chief Dale C. Herman.

Dr. Samuel A. Livingstone, Jefferson County medical examiner, performed an autopsy Thursday afternoon and attributed death to asphyxiation due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Chief Herman said the fire originated in or near a large stuffed chair in the middle of Mr. Stitt’s livingroom. All other possible accidental causes for a fire were eliminated, he said.

The blaze, which was reported at 8:18 p.m., moved upwards into the apartment of Justin T. and Lyndsey Campbell, who smelled smoke and then saw flames. They evacuated, as well as apartment 7 resident Janet E. England and apartment 8 resident Christopher Kinsella, he said.

Residents of four other units, identified as Phil Harris, Daniel O’Donnell, David Gotham and Frank McIntyre, were apparently not home, Chief Herman said.

Pets were rescued from the Campbell apartment, he said. There was evidence that Mr. Stitt had a cat, but none was found, he said.

The three-story building owned by Bruce A. Hunter has an inter-connected fire alarm system, but Mr. Stitt’s apartment was not connected to the system, Chief Herman said. The alarms activated after smoke reached sensors outside apartment 6, he said.

The Stitt apartment was gutted, there was fire, smoke and water damage in the Campbell unit, roof damage, minor water damage in the O’Donnell residence, and ceiling damage in the England apartment, Chief Herman said.