- Fatal Norris Arm North blaze 'just a bed of flames,' firefighter says
Pot of oil on stove led to fire, investigation finds
CBC News · Posted: Apr 10, 2008 5:20 AM EDT
A pot of overheated oil sparked a fire that killed a man in central Newfoundland and gutted his home, police said Thursday.
The RCMP identified Norman Kean, 50, as the man killed early Wednesday in a house fire in Norris Arm North that was so intense it woke up neighbours several doors away.
The RCMP have ruled the fire as accidental, Sgt. Bruce Drover said.
Kean was the only person in the house at the time of the fire.
Volunteer firefighter Debbie Menchenton said the Norris Arm North blaze melted the siding on a next-door house and snapped power lines.
"The house was completely gutted," Menchenton said. "The walls, the roof — it was just a bed of flames down on the floor. That's all we could see."
Menchenton, who received the call at 3 a.m. Wednesday, lives only a few doors away from the destroyed house.
"I think everybody's in shock," she said. "A lot of people weren't even aware that there was somebody in the house right now, because he had been visiting relatives, I think."
Neighbour Marge Gaulton brushed away tears as she remembered Kean, whom she met through his daughter. She described Kean — who she said had moved from New-Wes-Valley to be with his former girlfriend and his child — as a true gentleman.
"He was a very quiet man, kept to himself a fair bit, kept to his close friends," she said.
"I'll just probably miss seeing him."
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West & Park Family History
1957 - 2008 (51 years)
