The Raymond man who died after falling into a fire pit over the weekend and refusing medical attention until four hours later was burned so badly that he probably wouldn’t have survived even if an ambulance had been called right away, authorities said Wednesday.

Friends and family this week grieved for Timothy Small, 52, describing him as happy-go-lucky, an outdoorsman who was well-known in town and a dedicated friend.

TIMOTHY SMALL

Small fell into the blistering hot fire at 2 a.m., but it was 6 a.m. before his landlord arrived at the mobile home at 76 Mill St. and called 911. Raymond rescue workers treated Small and then he was flown by LifeFlight helicopter to Maine Medical Center, where he was stabilized before being flown to Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston with second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of his body, almost all on his upper torso. He died there Sunday night.

Small had been drinking heavily at the fire pit behind his home and was alone at about 2 a.m. when he fell in, according to the State Fire Marshal’s Office. The investigation determined that Small drank 15 beers and three coffee brandy mixed drinks, said state Fire Marshal Joseph Thomas.

Small thrashed around as he tried to get out and then rolled on the ground outside the pit, perhaps trying to put out flames, Thomas said.

Investigators found pieces of his shirt in the fire along with skin, and some on the ground near the pit, Thomas said.

Somehow, Small managed to get back inside to his bedroom, and for some reason changed his pants before going to bed, Thomas said.

A roommate had woken up to see why a light was left on and was the first to talk to Small after he was injured. That man, whom Thomas did not identify, offered to call an ambulance but Small refused the help. The man then went back to bed, Thomas said.

Though Small’s injuries were severe – he was missing a portion of one ear and his lips were burned, Thomas said – it’s not clear if the roommate understood how badly Small had been injured.

Keith Foote, who was sleeping at the house when Small was injured, said it was almost too painful to talk about the death of his friend of 20 years.

Foote said he had gone to bed at 9 p.m. and left Small by the fire, “just having a few beers.” He said he didn’t wake up until the following morning. When he did, he saw that Small had been badly burned all over his face and upper body.

“He said he fell in the fire pit. I said ‘You want me to call 911?’ He said no and he got angry with me,” Foote said.

Shortly afterward, landlord George Knights – who also supervised Small at his job – arrived at about 6 a.m. and insisted on calling 911, Foote said.

Thomas believes Small was burned so badly that he would not have survived even if someone had called an ambulance right after he fell into the fire. He bases that on the autopsy, which determined the cause of death as burns to the exterior of his body and to the mucous membranes of his throat.

“His airway was compromised,” Thomas said.

That doesn’t always happen with outdoor burns, but because Small fell into the fire and didn’t get out immediately, he was breathing in the extremely hot gases given off by the fire.

CHAIN REACTION SET OFF

Dr. John Schulz III, medical director of the Massachusetts General Hospital burn division, said Wednesday that anyone like Small who is burned over a significant part of the body faces a series of potentially fatal consequences.

They usually go into shock. That’s because when a person is burned over 20 percent or more of the body, there is an internal inflammation throughout the entire circulatory system. That inflammation causes water and proteins to leak out of the body’s small blood vessels, dropping the blood pressure so much that the kidneys shut down and other organs are injured. The inadequate blood supply further compromises the burned skin, he said.

Drinking beer would compound that problem because alcohol is a diuretic that leaves the body dehydrated, he said.

When treating a burn victim, emergency workers often administer intravenous fluids to reverse that consequence, but a delay of four hours would be very harmful, Schulz said.

If victims with serious burns survive the shock, they still can succumb to damage to the tissue of their throat and lungs, which become incapable of absorbing oxygen, he said. That can occur within a week. For two to three months after the injuries, a person is extremely vulnerable to severe and potentially fatal infections.

Getting burned is usually extremely painful, but sometimes third-degree burns can be so traumatic that they deaden the pain, Schulz said.

“If the burns are deep enough it kills the nerves. Third-degree burns classically are thought not to hurt so much. There’s the initial pain of the injury. After that, it’s relatively insensate. It’s second-degree burns that really hurt,” Schulz said.

MANY FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS

Small comes from a large family, with nine siblings. A sister, Vicki Varney of Windham, said the family was grieving and asked for privacy.

Small worked for a number of construction related businesses, usually hanging drywall and often working for members of the Knights family, but he was excited to finally start his own business, Redneck Tree Huggers, according to his obituary. He and girlfriend Janice Knights started the business together.

Dick Dolloff, who runs a marine repair business not far from Small’s home, said he knew Small well and was shocked by his death.

“He had a great personality … a super nice guy,” said Dolloff, who would see Small at the store regularly, and sometimes have a beer with him at a local bar.

“Timmy lived and loved fiercely. If you were a friend you were family,” his obituary read. “He enjoyed hunting, fishing and hiking.”

Besides his siblings, Small is survived by his mother and a 21-year-old old son.

Visiting hours will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday at Hall Funeral Home in Casco. A Celebration of Life will be held at the American Legion Post 155 in Naples from 1 to 5 p.m.

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