44°
MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. - An electrical malfunction in a faulty outlet was the origin of the fire at a group home Wednesday that killed a man, according to Mount Kisco Fire Chief Tom Jackson.
Fire personnel were called to the three-story structure at 43 Highland Ave. shortly before 9:30 p.m. for the accidental electrical fire, which started in a bathroom on the third floor.
"The outlet malfunction started a fire in the wall and it just escalated from there," Jackson said Friday.
One of the residents of the home for mentally disabled adults, Richard Bouman, 50, was found dead in a bedroom in the same apartment where the fire started, Jackson said.
The medical examiner's office confirmed Thursday Bouman died as a result of "asphyxia due to inhalation of smoke containing carbon monoxide.
Except for Bouman, everyone was out of the house when fire personnel arrived, Jackson said. Mount Kisco EMS transported one of the home's workers to Northern Westchester Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
"I'm not 100 percent sure whether it was smoke inhalation or whether it was part hysterics from everything that was going on," Jackson said.
Jackson said the residents still have not returned to the home, which is operated by the Mount Kisco nonprofit Community Living Corporation, but that situation is being rectified.
"They're still displaced and there are people working on [the home] now trying to get it situated again," he said.
The eight to 10 displaced residents currently are staying in other group homes around the area, Jackson said.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Mt. Kisco and receive free news updates.
