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Millbury Fire Victim May Have Been Smoking In Bedroom, Officials Say

MILLBURY (CBS) -- Fire officials in Millbury say Saturday night's apartment fire that claimed the life of a woman was smoking-related.

The 56-year-old woman may have been smoking in her bedroom just before the fire, authorities said. She was found unresponsive in her third-floor unit and was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.

Millbury Fire Chief Richard Hamilton says the building is up to code, but the Housing Authority's Centerview Apartments don't have a sprinkler system, which may have saved the victim.

"It was built in 1980," Hamilton said. "It was exempt from the sprinklers".

The woman had just moved into the housing complex weeks ago, Hamilton said.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Bernice Corpuz reports: 

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