CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - An 82-year-old man was found injured and unconscious early Thursday in a Cedar Rapids apartment fire and rushed to a local hospital, city officials said.
Firefighters were called around 1 a.m. Thursday to the apartment complex, where an air conditioner unit on fire, Cedar Rapids officials said in a news release. Arriving firefighters reported seeing flames coming from the air conditioner opening and along the outside of the building.
The unconscious man, identified as 82-year-old Robert Wesley Mischek, was found on the floor of an apartment unit on the ground floor of the three-story building. He was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening burns and later flown to an Iowa City hospital.
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No other injuries were reported.
Fire officials said the fire originated from smoking materials discarded near a recliner in the apartment.
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