LINCOLN, RI (WPRI) — Burns from an April fire that destroyed a MacColl YMCA storage shed caused the death of a Lincoln man who worked for the organization, the state medical examiner has determined.
Kyle Andrews, 48, died at Rhode Island Hospital April 20, a few days after an early morning blaze destroyed the two-care garage sized shed that stored lawnmowers and gardening equipment.
Department of Health spokesperson Joseph Wendelken said the medical examiner ruled last month that “thermal burns” due to a garage fire was the cause of death.
The fire started at about 3:40 a.m. on April 17 at the one-story structure on Breakneck Hill Road.
The cause of the fire is stated as “undetermined” according to Deputy State Fire Marshal John Dean who said the fire appeared to start near the entrance of the building and could’ve had something to do with the equipment that was stored inside.
“We can’t say it’s accidental and can’t say it’s not accidental,” Dean said, adding that the cause did not appear to be electrical. “So, the cause is undetermined.”
In the days after the fire, Lincoln police detectives interviewed YMCA employees, including Andrews who was contacted at his home.
After Andrews was found with burns, an ambulance was called to bring him to the hospital.
Lincoln Police Chief Brian Sullivan and Dean said investigators never had a chance to interview Andrews, who died the next day.
Dean said an interview with Andrews might’ve helped determine the exact cause of the fire that killed him, but he was the only one at the scene when the fire started. Dean said investigators could not track down any other witnesses.
This fire looks suspicious. It started in the early a.m. hours and this guy was there, he got burned, and he never reported his burns. He was most likely stealing the equipment and the fuel - and he got burned. Sorry, buddy, at least you now met your Creator in person.
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LINCOLN, RI (WPRI) — The Rhode Island Fire Marshal is looking into a fire that investigators said caused burns to a YMCA employee, who died three days later.
Kyle Andrews, 48, of Lincoln, died at Rhode Island Hospital last Thursday, Lincoln police said.
The state Medical Examiner’s office is investigating that part of the case, according to Department of Health spokesperson Joseph Wendelken.
“The cause of death is still pending,” Wendelken said.
The fire started at about 3:40 a.m. last Monday in a storage shed at the MacColl YMCA on Breakneck Hill Road. Police logs indicated the flames were under control about a half-hour later. The shed was about the size of a two-car garage and stored lawnmowers and other equipment used to take care of the facility’s fields.
Investigators from the Fire Marshal’s office were at the scene a short time after the fire was under control. Deputy State Fire Marshal John Dean said the burn injuries were apparently connected to the blaze, but he could not offer any details about the cause of the fire.
“This remains under investigation,” he said.
The burns on Andrews were not discovered by police until Wednesday, when logs show police were called to a home on Cecile Street.
“A man has burns,” a Lincoln police detective reported to a dispatcher, according to the logs.
Police Chief Brian Sullivan said Andrews’ burns were serious enough that it was determined he needed to go to the hospital. Sullivan said Andrews died before he was able to give investigators a statement.
“We haven’t ruled anything out,” Sullivan said.
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LINCOLN, R.I. — The police have a mystery on their hands that would be worthy of a TV drama.
After a suspicious fire destroyed a maintenance shed at the MacColl YMCA, detectives went to the homes of several Y employees to interview them about the blaze.
At the home of one worker, they noticed what looked like burn injuries so severe that they called for a rescue, which took the man to Rhode Island Hospital.
The next day, detectives learned that the man — Kyle Andrews, 48 — had died.
“We are not tying Mr. Andrews’ death to a fire in Lincoln,” Capt. Philip Gould told The Providence Journal on Tuesday. “We don’t have anything to tie one thing to the other.” Gould also stressed that investigators don’t know where Andrews suffered his injuries.
This much is known, according to Gould:
Firefighters, police detectives and the state fire marshal went to a fire at 3:40 a.m. on Monday, April 17, at the McColl YMCA, on Route 123. The maintenance shed, which housed lawnmowers and similar equipment, was fully engulfed, and will probably need to be torn down.
No one was found at the scene of the fire.
Two days later, on Wednesday the 19th, detectives went to interview Andrews at his home, when they observed the injuries and sent him to the hospital. They never had a chance to interview him about the fire before learning he had died.
Gould said that the cause of the fire is under investigation by Lincoln detectives and the state fire marshal. The medical examiner is investigating the cause of Andrews’ death.
And, Gould said, one other thing is certain:
A man with close ties to the community has died, and “The YMCA family is grieving.”
We do not grieve him. He was stealing the gasoline in the early am hours and he got burned. Crime & punishment. He will now explain this when he meets his Creator.