Baltimore Hospital Fire Leaves Patient Dead

Nov. 11, 2013— -- A Baltimore hospital patient has died following a fire that broke out in the patient's room, leading to rumors that the patient had been smoking.

The fire broke out Friday evening at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, hospital spokesman Sharon Boston confirmed to ABCNews.com in a statement. No one else was injured, and the flames were put out quickly, she said.

The Baltimore Fire Department is still investigating what caused the fire, department spokesman Ian Brennan told ABCNews.com. He said people listening to the fire department radio frequency overheard firefighters speculating that the patient had been smoking, leading to blogs and tweets about the fire, but officials said they couldn't confirm this before Thursday.

Still, Brennan said the fire was "extremely unique" because it began inside a patient's room. He added that the fire department's chief said he had never seen anything like it in his three decades as a firefighter.