Friends in Fla. concerned for burn victims

LINCOLN – Burn victims Rick Pedley and Linda Smith have a large group of friends worrying about them in Mims, Fla., one of those friends said Tuesday.

Residents of North Gate Travel Park have been anxiously awaiting updates on their friends’ medical conditions since Pedley and Smith, who live together in the trailer park, suffered severe burns in an explosive fire that destroyed the Pedley family’s cabin on Upper Coldstream Pond early last Wednesday.

“When I first heard, I was, like, ‘Oh, my gosh, it’s horrible. Horrible,'” Gina Farinha, who helps manage North Gate, said Tuesday. “I can just imagine the pain he is in. It’s terrible to have something like this happen, and to such nice people. That’s what kills you.

“Everybody down here knew really quick what had happened,” Farinha added. “I guess senior citizens have a network. News gets around fast.”

Pedley suffered burns to 80 percent to 85 percent of his body, and Smith suffered burns on 60 percent to 65 percent of hers. A LifeFlight helicopter flew them to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston from Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln.

Smith’s condition was upgraded from critical to serious at Mass General on Tuesday, while Pedley remains in critical condition, a hospital spokeswoman said. Both remain in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

The explosion was an accident caused by a gas leak, but exactly what leaked or why remains a mystery, said Sgt. Tim York of the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Because of the accidental nature of the fire and as standard procedure, fire marshals are discontinuing their investigation and leaving it to insurance company investigators to determine the rest, York said.

“Someday we may or may not know what happened,

but it will be awhile in any case,” York said Tuesday.

The insurance companies will examine the charred remains of a stove or heating unit taken from the fire scene, he said.

Pedley and Smith have lived in the trailer park for about three years. Avid motorcyclists, they are part of a group of Harley-Davidson riders who live in the park, Farinha said. She described the couple as “very friendly, outgoing and generous.”

“He was always offering you a chance to go up to the cabin in Maine,” Farinha said. “She had an operation on her knee and they went up to the cabin this summer so she could relax, but I think they go there to relax every summer.”

Smith would mow an elderly neighbor’s lawn regularly despite her knee or leg problems, Farinha said. Farinha said she believed that Smith worked part time as a receptionist in a doctor’s office, while Pedley was retired.

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