At 00:07 09/04/2007, you wrote: >At 04:05 PM 4/8/2007 -0400, you wrote: > >Thanks, all, for the info. No, I don't want an NRC address just yet. I'll > >see what's on the web. I knew DEE died in a fire. Was hoping for more > >details than CAT was able to give me.
Details from DX Monitor Vol 42 #24: Riverside man dies in fire BLAZE: It was aided by stacks of magazines and newspapers in his home, an official says. 08:19 AM PST, on Tuesday, March 1, 2005 Special to The Press-Enterprise A Riverside man who was a self-described "pack rat" was killed Monday afternoon when a fire tore through the newspaper-and-magazine-stuffed rooms of his Essex Street house. Neighbors identified the victim as Donald Erickson. Firefighters said the blaze began somewhere in the back of the house, in the area where Erickson's body was discovered. The cause of the fire has not been determined. Firefighters break the windows of a house on Essex Street in Riverside after a fire was reported by neighbors Monday. Riverside Fire Department Division Chief Tedd Laycock said the fire spread quickly, aided by ceiling-high stacks of newspapers, magazines and other items. "For some reason, he had all the windows boarded up," Laycock said. Even when firefighters broke through the boards, they were still blocked by dense stacks of boxes and papers. Rows of file boxes labeled "Magazines" could be seen through the windows from the street. Laycock said neighbors' calls to 911 came in at 12:52 p.m. Eight units responded. The fire was contained by 2 p.m., but brown smoke continued to pour out of the roof from a fire deep within the house. Thelma Cryst, who lived across the street from Erickson for decades, said he was friendly but reclusive. "He was a very quiet person. I didn't know him too well. We would chitchat, but it was never anything really personal," she said. "He always helped out with anything I needed," Cryst said, explaining that at Christmastime he would help move her furniture to make way for her tree. She said Erickson had a lot of medical problems. "I've been concerned about him a long time," Cryst said. "He hasn't been happy for, really, a long time," she said, walking out onto her driveway in socks and slippers. "When your lease is up, your lease is up." "He called himself a pack rat," said Josie Herrera, who lived nearby. But neighbors said they had no idea of the extent of his condition until today. "He was a nice guy," Herrera said, "but he was always locked in there. I got the impression that he didn't want nobody checking up on him." Whenever neighbors went to check on him, she said, "He would say, 'I'm OK. I'm OK.' He didn't want nobody worrying about him." By the time firefighters arrived, neighbors had already broken open a door and a window. "We didn't know what to do," Herrera said. "We wanted to help. But there was so much smoke. We couldn't." Cryst said Erickson had been teaching a computer class twice a week. She said he moved to the neighborhood in the 1970s. **************************************************************************** Nick Hall-Patch Victoria, B.C. Canada **************************************************************************** _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: irca@hard-core-dx.com