Tragedy strikes Lotus Cafe

According to a report in the Washington Post today, a man who may have been smoking in bed was killed early this morning when the mattress in his SS apartment caught fire.

The 31-year-old man, whose name was not released pending notification of his family, was originally from Baltimore and had recently started working at the Lotus Cafe. He was apparently living in a second-floor apartment in the same building, which also includes apartments housing others who work at the restaurant according to the MoCo FD.

The FD said residents of those other apartments smelled smoke shortly before 2 a.m., and realized there was a fire in the man's bedroom. They dragged a ladder to the window, and grabbed fire extinguishers to use against the blaze, but were driven back by the smoke and heat.

Fire and rescue crews evacuated the man and put out the fire. He was then taken to the Medstar burn unit at Washington Hospital Center. Tragically, he did not pull through. The blaze did not damage other parts of the building.

This is the second time in roughly 12 months that the Lotus Cafe/My-Le has endured a fire. In 2007 when this happened, arson was suspected. But it appears no firm conclusion was ever reached in that case. Unfortunately in this incident, it looks as though carelessness played the over-riding role. My heart certainly goes out to the Lotus Cafe family.