Dennysville woman dies after pouring gas on fire Resident, 83, tried to light green wood in stove

DENNYSVILLE – An 83-year-old woman died of burns on Sunday after she used gasoline to try to light a fire in her living room wood stove.

Jean Sprague, a longtime resident who lived with her son, was alone at their Smith Ridge home on Saturday evening when she attempted to burn recently cut green firewood.

She poured gas from a can into the stove. The sudden ignition caught the linoleum, a couch and her nightgown on fire, according to David Wilder, chief of the Dennysville Volunteer Fire Department.

She made a 911 call to say that she had a fire and thought she had put it out, but that she wanted someone to check on it. By the time Dennysville’s seven or eight responders arrived, she was on the floor with burns.

“She was conscious and talking and not complaining,” Wilder said. “It was unbelievable.”

Her son, Mark Sprague, arrived home while responders were still on the scene.

She was transported to Calais Regional Hospital by ambulance, then to the Maine Medical Center in Portland by LifeFlight helicopter.

She died on Sunday morning.

“The burns were horrible, but she appeared to be doing OK,” Wilder said. “Her age was against her.”

The State Fire Marshal’s Office cautioned the public against ever using a flammable liquid to jump-start a fire in a wood stove or fireplace.