A 71-year-old woman was killed early Thursday morning after a fire broke out at a Silver Springs home, officials said.
Marion County Fire Rescue crews responded around 2:30 a.m. to a home at 2245 S.E. 175th Terrace Road for a structure fire. A total of 24 firefighters arrived to the scene and found the 1,600-square-foot concrete block home about 50 percent contained, officials said.
Chris Bucher has lived in the home for the last three years and is Paulette Martin's caretaker. Investigators said she was receiving hospice care and had limited mobility.
Bucher said Martin was a smoker and on an oxygen tank, but it's not clear if the tank had anything to do with the fire.
Bucher, 42, woke up in the middle of the night to chaos inside the home.
"I could taste metallic in my mouth (as if) something was on fire," Bucher said. "(I) jumped out of bed (and) couldn't see anything. It was all engulfed in smoke. I tried to open my bedroom door to get (the woman), but when I opened it, the oxygen bottles must have blown because it blew the door out of my hand. So, I took off running and dove right through that window right there."
Martin was pronounced dead at the scene.
The cause of the fire and death are being investigated by the State Fire Marshal's Office and the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
(Marion County Fire Rescue)