ELLSWORTH, Maine — A 93-year-old man who died in a blaze on Tuesday at his home was boiling water on his gas stove in the kitchen when his clothing caught fire, according to investigators with the state fire marshal’s office.
Investigators believe Roice Saunders of Ellsworth was attempting to reach a phone to call for help when he collapsed about 6 feet away in the living room where his body was found, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland said in a press release issued Wednesday afternoon.
Fire officials said this was the fourth fire death this year.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze at the two-story white clapboard house at 344 Surry Road, which was reported by a passer-by about 10:45 a.m., Sgt. Scott Richardson of the state fire marshal’s office said on Tuesday.
Relatives who gathered at the antique store next door about noon on Tuesday were “taking it pretty hard, as you would expect,” Richardson said.
People who own a horse in eastern or central Maine, may recall Saunders, who for decades shoed and cared for horses in Hancock, Washington and Penobscot counties.