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OGUNQUIT — A man in Ogunquit died Wednesday morning after a frying pan in his apartment caught on fire, the State Fire Marshal’s Office says.

Mark Barnard, 54, of Ogunquit, was in his apartment above the garage of the house at 18 Besbill St. when a frying pan on the stove caught fire at around 2 a.m. His body was found in his bedroom.

Ogunquit firefighter Scott Bourque said the fire traveled “very little into the house, majority (was) in the apartment.” Firefighters were able to contain the blaze from spreading to the rest of the home, where his landlady was living, and extinguished the fire after about 45 minutes.

Bourque said that the call to the fire department came from a home safety system in the house.

“There was a smoke detector in the apartment but we were not positive it was working,” Bourque said.

Barnard was a partner at Ocean Graphics in Wells, a graphics and sign company, and had been a tenant for many years at the Besbill Street apartment.

A state police spokesman said Barnard will be examined by the medical office and the investigation will likely close tomorrow.



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