A physical therapist died after a flash fire broke out inside an oxygen therapy machine at his Arizona medical facility on Wednesday, officials said, marking at least the second such fatality in the U.S. this year.
Dr. Walter Foxcroft, 43, was found dead inside the hyperbaric chamber by firefighters who responded to his office, Navasu Health and Hyperbarics in Lake Havasu City, after a report of a fire just before 11 p.m. on Wednesday, the fire department said.
Handout/ Navasu Health and Hyperbarics 
When first responders arrived, crews found smoke billowing throughout the building and “an intact hyperbaric chamber that appeared to have had a flash fire in the chamber with one patient inside,” the Lake Havasu City Fire Department said.
The man inside, identified as Foxcroft, was pronounced dead at the scene.
A hyperbaric chamber is a sealed tube that is pressurized with pure oxygen and helps treat various illnesses or wounds.
It is unclear why Foxcroft was inside one of the chambers. The cause of the flash fire and the circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.
Foxcroft attended the University of Arizona as an undergraduate, “where he was also a collegiate athlete as the mascot,” according to his profile on the medical center’s website. He continued his career as a mascot as Big Red for the Arizona Cardinals, going with the NFL team to Super Bowl XLIII in 2006. He later attended Touro University Nevada, where he earned his doctorate in physical therapy.
Foxcroft founded Havasu Health and Hyperbarics in 2024. According to a press release at the time, the center offers a range of services, including personalized health consultations, nutritional guidance, rehabilitation programs and biohacking treatments that optimize health.
A similar incident occurred in late January when a 5-year-old boy receiving treatment in a hyperbaric chamber was killed after a fiery explosion inside the machine at a Michigan clinic.
Four staffers were charged with a mix of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges.
