A Fort Wayne woman who was critically injured when her garage exploded last month died this week.
Police and firefighters were called to 8128 Corto Calle, the home of Janice Betancourt, 55, on March 8. There they found Betancourt with burns all over her body.
Panels from the garage door were strewn about the driveway of the northeast-side home near Stellhorn and Goeglein roads after an explosion, according to a police report.
Betancourt was rushed to St. Joseph Hospital in critical condition, where she remained until her death Tuesday.
The cause of the explosion remains under investigation, said Susan Banta, Fort Wayne Fire Department spokeswoman.
Banta described the explosion as a flash fire, caused by a vapor explosion in the home’s garage.
“We are waiting on test results to determine what kind of vapor it was,” she said.
Investigators have no evidence that foul play was involved, Banta said.
The Betancourt family has consulted a St. Louis attorney on the matter. That attorney could not be reached Thursday.
Betancourt’s death is the eighth this year in connection with a fire.
The Allen County Coroner’s office concluded Betancourt died of a blood infection and multisystem failure because of a thermal burn injury.
Three International Business College students died after a fire in January at the Willows of Coventry apartment complex on the city’s southwest side.
The same month, a young mother, her two children and a fetus all died in a blaze on East Jefferson Boulevard.
Betancourt, a homemaker who enjoyed crafts, is survived by her husband, three children and several grandchildren.
