*Soul singer Alexander O’Neal and his wife, Cynthia, were rushed to the hospital on Friday, December 5, after a fire erupted at their Burnsville, Minnesota, apartment.
According to PEOPLE, the incident occurred hours after O’Neal, 72, returned home from nearly two weeks in the ICU, where he had been on life support for bacterial pneumonia and an enlarged heart. Cynthia told TMZ that the blaze began around 1:30 a.m. local time in a third-floor unit of their building. She described waking up to find two separate flames, including “a bubble of fire” near her husband’s oxygen machine.
O’Neal burned himself while trying to stomp out one of the fires before it spread to a mattress, prompting the couple to call 911 and evacuate slowly due to his weakened condition. Both inhaled significant smoke while navigating the three stairs out of the building.
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Cynthia was released from the hospital shortly after, while Alexander remained for lung testing. Despite the scare, she told TMZ, “We are so happy to be alive. We may not have a toothbrush, but we have a car!”
She added, “Our spirits remain good and we are moving forward.”
The cause of the fire, which destroyed four units, remains under investigation, and residents have since returned to their apartments.
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