A 75-year-old Lewiston man died Sunday after his clothes caught fire while smoking, authorities said.
Victor Lauze was found inside his second-floor Knox Street apartment in Lewiston with severe burns about noon after neighbors heard his smoke detector go off, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Lauze was taken to Central Maine Medical Center before being transferred by LifeFlight helicopter to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he died Sunday evening, McCausland said.
McCausland said there was little damage to Lauze’s apartment from the fire.