Apartment fire in Milan leaves 75-year-old woman dead after oxygen tank catches flame
A 75-year-old woman died on Sunday after a rapid fire engulfed her second-floor apartment on via Demonte in Milan, where firefighters prevented three medical oxygen tanks from exploding.
Fire breaks out in Milan apartment
A fatal fire occurred in northern Milan on Sunday, 4 October 2026, leading to the death of a 75-year-old woman inside her residence. The blaze started shortly before 13:30 in a second-floor apartment of a residential building situated at via Demonte 3, located in the city's Niguarda district. The occupant lived alone in the property, where the fire developed with extreme speed across the domestic interior. Within a span of only a few minutes, flames fully consumed the living spaces, filling the apartment with intense heat and toxic fumes. Although local emergency dispatchers directed rescue teams to the address immediately, the rapid progression of the fire left the woman no opportunity to escape, and responders confirmed her death at the scene.
Firefighters secure burning oxygen canisters
Emergency response teams were dispatched simultaneously from the central Milan fire station and the nearby municipal detachment in Sesto San Giovanni. Upon forcing entry into the second-floor property, crews encountered intense thermal conditions and discovered three cylinders of medical oxygen kept inside the residence. One of the three pressurized canisters was already engulfed in flames when firefighters entered the burning rooms. Responders recognized that the oxygen container threatened to accelerate the fire and posed a severe risk of an explosion inside the residential structure. Firefighters acted quickly to douse the burning cylinder, cooling and isolating all three storage tanks to eliminate the explosion hazard.
- Flames break out in the second-floor apartment at via Demonte 3.
- Fire crews arrive from central Milan and Sesto San Giovanni to contain the fire and cool three oxygen tanks.
- Upper-floor residents are evacuated and treated for smoke inhalation by 118 paramedics on site.
- Lombardy NIAT fire investigators begin examining the apartment after clearing operations.
Evacuation of upper floor and medical checks
As the apartment burned, thick smoke and toxic combustion gases rose through the building stairwell toward the upper levels of the structure. Fire officers carried out a precautionary evacuation of the residents occupying the floor directly above the fire-damaged home to prevent respiratory injuries. Medical teams from the regional 118 emergency service deployed ambulances to via Demonte to provide assistance outside the building. Several evacuated neighbours received immediate treatment on site from healthcare personnel for mild smoke inhalation. Following physical examinations by paramedics, all treated residents were cleared, and none of them required transportation to a hospital.
Fire investigation and building clearance
After extinguishing the active fire, emergency crews remained at via Demonte 3 to conduct site clearance and dampening procedures across the damaged building. These operations, designated as smassamento and bonifica, involved sifting through charred household furnishings and removing burned materials to eliminate hidden hotspots. Forensic specialists from the Lombardy regional fire investigation unit, known as the NIAT (Nucleo Investigativo Antincendi Territoriale), took control of the apartment to determine the cause of the disaster. The specialized NIAT investigators are examining electrical systems and structural remnants to establish the exact ignition point and assess whether the medical oxygen equipment contributed to the start or rapid development of the fire.
