NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- An 88-year-old woman who was hospitalized for a week following a deadly nursing home fire has died, becoming the 11th victim of the blaze, police said Friday.
Katie Wright died Thursday night at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, one week after the fire at NHC HealthCare Center near downtown. Firefighters had carried or used wheelchairs to take more than 100 residents to safety.
An electrical bed is believed to be the source of the fire, which started on the second floor of the 1960s-era building. The home was exempt from a 1994 state law requiring sprinklers.
Since 1998, there had been five reported deaths in fires in hospital beds nationwide, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The safety commission proposed moving the bed to Maryland for testing, but the nursing home's owner, Murfreesboro-based National HealthCare Corp., obtained a temporary restraining order this week to block the move. The company said the tests might damage or destroy the evidence.
