By Seth Augenstein and Joe Moszczynski/The Star-Ledger
STILLWATER — A veteran emergency medical technician rushing a fire victim to a medevac landing zone at a Sussex County schoolyard died early today after suffering an apparent heart attack and crashing his ambulance into a utility pole.
While no one else on the emergency rig was injured in the crash, the 68-year-old fire victim, John Baer — who said he found his wife on fire in their Stillwater home — was in critical condition tonight in the burn unit at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston.
Baer’s 70-year-old wife, Dorothy, died in the fire.
The EMT, William Martin, 56, president of the Stillwater Emergency Rescue Squad, was taken to Newton Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after 6 a.m.
The deadly fire and the loss of one of those responding left many in the community shocked.
Michele Hess, captain of the rescue squad, called it a “double tragedy.”
State Police said the blaze on Potters Road was reported just before 4:30 a.m. Lt. Stephen Jones, a State Police spokesman, said Baer drove to a neighbor’s house to report his home was on fire and that his wife was still inside.
Baer, a major figure in a massive fire and explosion nearly a decade ago when he worked as a truck driver for a propane distribution company in Newton, said he had discovered his wife on fire in his living room and carried her to the bathroom to try to extinguish her burning clothing, Jones said.
When they arrived at the smoke-filled structure, state troopers and firefighters found the woman in the bathroom and attempted to revive her, but were unsuccessful.
Her husband, who had suffered burns to his upper body, was taken away by an ambulance that was headed for a helicopter landing zone that had been set up at the Stillwater Elementary School. Before they could get there, however, Martin — who was behind the wheel — appeared to have a “medical episode” — likely a heart attack — that caused him to lose control of the vehicle, State Police said.
The ambulance, which was also carrying a paramedic and another EMT with Baer in the back, veered off the road, struck a pole and partially overturned on Fredon Road.
Baer, who did not suffer additional injuries in the crash was taken by another ambulance to St. Barnabas.
Although the fire was being considered suspicious, Jones said there was no evidence of intentional arson.
In March 2003, Baer was partially blamed for a huge explosion and fire at a propane company in Newton that forced the evacuation of 1,000 people, but resulted in no serious injuries.
It was later determined the blast at Able Energy occurred during an illegal transfer of propane to a truck that was moved by Baer while the vehicles were still connected by a supply hose. The hose and valve ruptured, leading to a large propane leak and explosion.
Baer, along with two top Able officials, enrolled in a pretrial intervention program in 2005 which allowed them to avoid prosecution.
Greg Mueller, the Sussex County first assistant prosecutor, toured the fire scene with a team of investigators and confirmed it had started in the living room. Although the living room contains a fireplace, Mueller said they did not believe it was the cause.
“Most of the contents of the living room were consumed by fire and there was extensive smoke damage to the walls,” he said. “The origin and the cause of the fire are being actively investigated to determine if it was accidentally set or intentionally set.”
One neighbor, Art Lambrecht, when he saw light smoke fill the neighborhood, he immediately grew concerned for Dorothy Baer, because he said she had health problems.
“I knew if there was a fire, she’d have a problem getting out,” he said.
Mueller said an autopsy was expected to be performed Wednesday on Baer.
Hess said Martin, a longtime volunteer of the Stillwater rescue squad, apparently tried to stop the ambulance before he died.
“Even in his last minutes, he was trying to save everybody else,” said the squad captain. “He died doing what he loved.”
A woman answering the phone at Martin’s house this afternoon declined to comment, referring questions to the State Police.
Star-Ledger staff writers Ben Horowitz and Ted Sherman contributed to this report
RELATED COVERAGE
• Ambulance driver killed in crash spent final moments protecting survivor of Stillwater fire
• Man hurt in suspicious Sussex County fatal fire triggered Newton explosion in 2003