An apartment fire Monday night in Cumming claimed the life of a 78-year-old wheelchair-bound man, authorities said.

According to Forsyth County Fire Division Chief Jason Shivers, Allen Dean Boyd died Tuesday morning in the burn unit at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, where he had been taken after the blaze.

Shivers said firefighters responded to an alarm call about 10:45 p.m. Monday at the Willows apartment complex, 225 Nancy Lane near downtown.

Unable to find any obvious signs of fire, firefighters met with residents and were searching the building when they were alerted to smoke and fire in apartment 727, according to Shivers. 

After gaining entry, Shivers said they found the blaze confined to the bedroom, which is where Boyd was located.  

In addition to Boyd, one firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation at Northside Hospital-Forsyth and later released.

According to Shivers, the fire was confined to the bedroom, but the rest of the apartment suffered smoke damage.

In addition, the apartment below was damaged by water used to put out the blaze, but no residents were displaced

“We have made a determination that it was an accidental fire,” Shivers said. “Nothing about it is suspicious whatsoever. It was purely accidental and he was the lone occupant in the apartment at the time.”

Staff writer Alyssa LaRenzie contributed to this report.