Sad story out of the Mill Creek section of West Philly tonight. A physically disabled 80-year-old woman died in a fire that started when she microwaved a sandwich that was wrapped in aluminum foil and paper.
Nicole Swaayze lived alone in her 4th floor apartment at Katie B. Jackson Plaza, a seniors-only facility run by the Philadelphia Housing Authority at 50th Street and Haverford Avenue, said PHA spokesman Kirk Dorn.
Dorn said Swaayze relied on an aide to cook her dinner everyday. When the aide didn't show up today, Swaayze tried to fix herself dinner. Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers said the elderly woman pulled the sandwich out of the microwave when it caught fire, and the flames spread onto her clothes as well. Swaayze became the 23rd person to die in a city fire this year. Ayers said the number of fatal fires stood at 37 at this point a year ago. Two other elderly residents at Jackson Plaza had to be treated for smoke inhalation, Ayers said.
It was unclear why Swaayze's aide -- who did not work for PHA -- never showed up, Dorn said.
Sad story out of the Mill Creek section of West Philly tonight. A physically disabled 80-year-old died in a fire that started when she microwaved a sandwich that was wrapped in aluminum foil and paper.
Dana DiFilippo has covered murder, mayhem and miscellany at the Daily News since 2000. She grew up in Delaware County and studied journalism and photography at Penn State University. E-mail tips to difilid@phillynews.com.
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Stephanie Farr has been reporting for the Daily News since 2007, covering everything from gay porn stars who entered the burglary business to moon trees, skinheads, murders and naked bike rides. She covers crime, both in the city and suburbs, and keeps clippings of bizarre Associated Press articles. Her favorite this year was the story about the drunk in Punxsutawney who gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a dead opossum. E-mail tips to farrs@phillynews.com.
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Phillip Lucas joined the Daily News crime team in 2011. He grew up on the mean streets of Seattle and studied journalism and psychology at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Before landing in the City of Brotherly Love, Phillip was a reporter for The News Journal in Wilmington, Del. Email tips to lucasp@phillynews.com.
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Morgan Zalot is the newest crime reporter at the Daily News, starting in 2011 after interning at the paper twice as a Temple University journalism student. In her past stints at the DN, she covered just about everything, from drunken Phillies fans to a barber shop in a high school to a grisly murder-suicide. She’s a born-and-raised Philly girl who grew up in the Northeast. E-mail tips to zalotm@philly.com.
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