Man Injured In Christmas House Fire In Richmond And Fairfield Man Dies After Stabbing Himself While Setting Estranged Wife’s Home On Fire

Investigators are looking into separate Christmas Day incidents in Richmond and Fairfield. In Richmond, a man was seriously injured when his apartment was destroyed in a fire. In Fairfield, a man died after stabbing himself while he was being confronted by officers while he had allegedly set his estranged wife's home on fire.

According to Maine Department of Public Safety Spokesman Steve McCausland, the State Fire Marshal's Office said a Richmond was seriously injured in an apartment house fire in downtown Richmond early this morning. Wade Welner, 30, is being treated at Maine Medical Center for smoke inhalation, McCausland said.  He was rescued from his second floor apartment at 34 Main St. by a Richmond police officer.  The only other occupant of the building, who heard the building's fire alarms, got out of the house uninjured, McCausland said. The second floor of the building was destroyed. Investigators are now attempting to determine how the fire started.

McCausland said fire investigators also assisted the Fairfield Police Department with a bizarre domestic violence incident at a home on the Norridgewock Road around midnight.  A man, whose name has not been released, had gone to his estranged wife's home and set fire to two vehicles and the house, while she was still inside.  According to McCausland, the woman called police and was not injured.  Police officers confronted the man outside the house where he stabbed himself in front of them and died of his injuries, McCausland said.