Flash fire kills Caribou man in fishing cabin

TOWNSHIP 17 RANGE 5 – A Caribou man found Monday died of smoke inhalation from a flash fire inside his ice fishing cabin, according to law enforcement officials Tuesday.

Louis Berube, 51, a construction worker who lived at 158 Grimes Road, was an avid fisherman who often spent time at his camp near Burnt Landing on Square Lake. He had an ice fishing shack on the lake, not far from his camp. He sometimes stayed at his camp two or three days at a time fishing.

Burnt Landing is on the northeastern shore of Square Lake, across from the thoroughfare to Eagle Lake.

Fire Marshal Tim Lowell said Tuesday that a partial autopsy was done Monday night at a Caribou funeral home.

According to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, Berube died in a flash fire inside his fishing cabin, sometime on the weekend. Berube last was seen by a game warden during Saturday evening.

Members of another fishing party found Berube’s body about noon Monday.

Lowell said a leak from a propane stove or heater inside the fishing cabin exploded, causing significant heat and using up all the oxygen in the small shack. The fire self-extinguished after the oxygen was depleted. The inside of the cabin had some fire damage, and Berube’s body also suffered minor burns.

State police and the Maine Warden Service responded by airplane and snowmobiles Monday afternoon after receiving a 911 call.

McCausland said Berube had been fishing alone at the time of the accident. They were unsure whether the fire happened on Saturday or Sunday.

An acquaintance said Berube acquired the Burnt Landing camp a couple of years ago and often went there to pursue his hobby. He traveled there from Route 161 by snowmobile.