Victim started fire while smoking crack

A crack pipe and lighter were found in the room of the nursing home resident.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WEATHERSFIELD -- A Briarfield at the Ridge nursing home resident died earlier this year after accidentally setting himself on fire while smoking crack -- while breathing oxygen.
The State Fire Marshal's Office and Weathersfield Township authorities on Wednesday announced the cause of death of 49-year-old Rickie A. Raver Sr. of Lake Milton. Police Chief Joseph Consiglio said he would immediately begin an investigation to determine how Raver, a paraplegic, got the illegal drug and if it's being delivered to anyone else at the nursing home.
"We have a lot of work to do here," Consiglio said of the probe.
Cause of death
Raver died Sept. 30 as the result of a fire in Room 221. He had been a patient for a few months because of injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident.
The police chief said he found it "unusual" that cocaine was in the room, but pointed out that patients have freedom and visitors.
Jerry DePizzo, the nursing home's director of operations, said drinking and smoking are not permitted in the facility. DePizzo said he has no idea how Raver got the drug, but he noted that visitors are not searched.
Chuck Hanni, a fire marshal investigator, said the flames were confined to Raver's room. The fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system after employees attempted to use fire extinguishers to put out the flames.
Among the items recovered from the room, Hanni said, was a glass crack pipe that later tested positive for cocaine by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.
Also recovered from the room was a butane cigarette lighter, the investigator said.
The Trumbull County Coroner's Office, Hanni explained, ruled the death accidental as the result of thermal injuries.
Factors
Contributing factors were paraplegia and alcohol and cocaine in Raver's blood system, Hanni added.
Hanni said the cause of the fire was mishandling of smoking materials in bed. Raver used the lighter to light the crack in an oxygen-rich environment, causing the fire.
Fire Chief Randy Pugh said no bottles of alcohol were found in Raver's room.
Pugh noted there were no rocks of crack found in the room, but they may have been destroyed by heat and water from the sprinkler system.
DePizzo said the fire put his staff and other residents at high risk, and he credited the staff for acting quickly. He placed the damage caused by the flames at about 10,000.
Pugh said that because Raver was using oxygen, it saturated his clothing and bedding, making oxygen and fire a dangerous mixture.
The fire chief said he hasn't talked to Raver's family about him using crack.
Consiglio said he is unaware if Raver was ever charged with drug offenses.
yovich@vindy.com