An 80-year-old woman in northern Minnesota was “fully engulfed” in flames when the motorized scooter she was riding outside her care facility caught fire, triggering an investigation into her horrifying death.
First responders raced to the Boundary Waters Care Center in Ely, Minn., at 4:30 p.m. Monday after a witness reported the fire, police said in a statement.
“The victim was fully engulfed before staff members were able to get the person off the scooter,” the Ely Police Department said.
The woman, whom authorities did not identify, “suffered severe burns” and was rushed to Ely Hospital, then airlifted to a hospital in Duluth, about 100 miles south of the approximately 3,300-population town near the Canadian border.
“The victim later succumbed to her injuries,” Ely Chief of Police Chad Houde said. One staff member who was injured was treated and released from the hospital, Houde noted.
Police did not identify the elderly woman, and the cause of the fire was still being determined, Ely Assistant Police Chief Mike Lorenz told the Minnesota Star Tribune, adding police expected to know more from the State Fire Marshal’s Office “within the coming week.”
The center used the scooter to help residents with mobility issues, Lorenz said. Authorities did not say what brand or type of scooter it was.
“The incident is currently under investigation by the State Fire Marshall,” Houde’s statement said. “Our condolences go out to the family of the victim.”