Man Set Fire That Killed Him In Fitchburg: State Officials

FITCHBURG, MA—A man succumbed to his injuries he sustained in a fire that he set himself in Fitchburg on Tuesday.

State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey, Fitchburg Fire Chief Kevin D. Roy, Fitchburg Police Chief Ernest F. Martineau and Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said the man died in an intentionally-set fire 36 Valley Street, Fitchburg. He was the sole occupant of the one-story, one-bedroom apartment. The man was rescued by first arriving Fitchburg firefighters, taken to a local hospital and then transferred to a Boston burn center where he later succumbed to his injuries, said officials.

The Worcester District Attorney’s office will release the victim’s identity once the Medical Examiner’s Office has completed formal identification and next of kin notifications are made.

The fire was deliberately set by the victim, said the state fire marshal.

Fitchburg Fire investigators, Fitchburg Police detectives and State Police assigned to both the Office of the State Fire Marshal and to the Worcester District Attorney’s Office jointly investigated this fire.

This is the 46th confirmed civilian fire death so far this year.

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