Eastbrook fire chief released from hospital

EASTBROOK – The local fire chief has been released from a Portland hospital but has not yet returned to his hometown, where he was seriously injured last month when his home burned to the ground, according to a relative.

Adam Church, nephew of Rick McNeil, said Monday evening that McNeil was released Sunday from Maine Medical Center. McNeil, 35, had been at the hospital since an April 19 fire at his mobile home killed his 13-year-old son, Tommy McNeil, and burned the structure to the ground.

“He is doing good,” Church said of McNeil.

A new mobile home has been donated and set up on McNeil’s property.

Church said McNeil has not returned to Eastbrook but is staying with friends somewhere else in Maine. He declined to say where. Church said concerns posed by people prowling around McNeil’s property at night prompted his decision to stay away for now.

Maine State Police, which is investigating the fire, has said that a woman was in the trailer when it caught fire but escaped unharmed. They have declined to identify the woman or to say whether she may know how the fire started.

Attempts Monday evening to contact police about McNeil’s case were unsuccessful.