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Log inUMaine student dies of burns
UMaine student dies of burns
by Outspoken on Thu May 22, 2008 5:21 am
UMaine student dies of burns
By Bill Trotter
Staff Writer Bangor Daily News
ELLSWORTH, Maine - A student at the University of Maine in Orono died Wednesday morning from injuries he suffered after apparently setting himself on fire the night before in a wooded area off Nicolin Road, according to officials.
Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said Wednesday afternoon that Alex Whitney, 18, of Farmington, Conn., died sometime Wednesday morning at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Whitney was found at about 7 p.m. Tuesday sitting in the middle of a woods road off Nicolin Road by two motorists who went to the area after seeing smoke, according to officials. The woods road, which runs under power lines just east of the former Calais Branch railroad line, is known locally as Duck Pond Road.
Whitney, who suffered burns to more than 60 percent of his body, is believed to have intentionally set the fire after dousing himself with gasoline, according to a statement released Wednesday morning by the Maine Department of Public Safety.
The Associated Press reported that Whitney was found with his clothes burned off and with a gas can and lighter nearby. Investigators based their belief that the fire was intentionally set on statements Whitney made to witnesses, according to AP.
Whitney was taken Tuesday night from Ellsworth by ambulance to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor before being flown by helicopter to the Boston hospital.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office has impounded Whitney’s car, which was found nearby at the fire scene, according to McCausland. Investigators plan to examine the vehicle "to try and find out why he did this bizarre act," McCausland said.
Joe Carr, UMaine’s director of university relations, said Wednesday that Whitney was a freshman forestry student who had been staying on Mount Desert Island as part of a UMaine program. Each spring, first-year forestry students spend two weeks studying and working in Acadia National Park as part of the school’s forestry studies, he said.
Carr said counselors were headed to MDI on Wednesday to offer their services to Whitney’s fellow forestry students.
"They’re going to visit them directly," Carr said.
Dr. Robert Dana, UMaine’s dean of students, said Wednesday that Whitney was an Eagle Scout, a big UMaine hockey fan and a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He said Whitney also enjoyed playing guitar.
"The death of a child and person is always indescribable," Dana said. "Communities like this are always devastated."
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=164666&zoneid=500
(Bangor Daily News/Gabor Degre)
By Bill Trotter
Staff Writer Bangor Daily News
ELLSWORTH, Maine - A student at the University of Maine in Orono died Wednesday morning from injuries he suffered after apparently setting himself on fire the night before in a wooded area off Nicolin Road, according to officials.
Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said Wednesday afternoon that Alex Whitney, 18, of Farmington, Conn., died sometime Wednesday morning at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Whitney was found at about 7 p.m. Tuesday sitting in the middle of a woods road off Nicolin Road by two motorists who went to the area after seeing smoke, according to officials. The woods road, which runs under power lines just east of the former Calais Branch railroad line, is known locally as Duck Pond Road.
Whitney, who suffered burns to more than 60 percent of his body, is believed to have intentionally set the fire after dousing himself with gasoline, according to a statement released Wednesday morning by the Maine Department of Public Safety.
The Associated Press reported that Whitney was found with his clothes burned off and with a gas can and lighter nearby. Investigators based their belief that the fire was intentionally set on statements Whitney made to witnesses, according to AP.
Whitney was taken Tuesday night from Ellsworth by ambulance to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor before being flown by helicopter to the Boston hospital.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office has impounded Whitney’s car, which was found nearby at the fire scene, according to McCausland. Investigators plan to examine the vehicle "to try and find out why he did this bizarre act," McCausland said.
Joe Carr, UMaine’s director of university relations, said Wednesday that Whitney was a freshman forestry student who had been staying on Mount Desert Island as part of a UMaine program. Each spring, first-year forestry students spend two weeks studying and working in Acadia National Park as part of the school’s forestry studies, he said.
Carr said counselors were headed to MDI on Wednesday to offer their services to Whitney’s fellow forestry students.
"They’re going to visit them directly," Carr said.
Dr. Robert Dana, UMaine’s dean of students, said Wednesday that Whitney was an Eagle Scout, a big UMaine hockey fan and a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He said Whitney also enjoyed playing guitar.
"The death of a child and person is always indescribable," Dana said. "Communities like this are always devastated."
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=164666&zoneid=500
(Bangor Daily News/Gabor Degre)
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
