CHAMPAIGN — Champaign fire investigators have determined that an elderly woman who died as a result of a fire in her home last week likely mishandled cigarettes.

Herta Toliver, 88, of 406 Carson Ave., died at 9:44 p.m. Thursday at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield after a fire that started around 1:30 p.m. at her home.

Champaign fire department spokeswoman Dena Schumacher said investigators determined that the fire started in an upholstered chair in the living room of the single-story wood frame house, which was heavily damaged.

The fire and smoke were so heavy that a neighbor could not get in to help her. It took firefighters about six minutes to get the fire suppressed enough that they could enter.

Schumacher said fires involving smoking materials remain the leading cause of fire deaths in America.

According to 2008 statistics from the National Fire Protection Association, more than 680 deaths, 1,520 injuries and $737 million dollars in indirect property damages were caused by smoking-related fires in America.