The former priest of an Anglican church in Alert Bay has died from injuries suffered in a bizarre fire in the Atlantic resort town of Ocean City, Md.
Rev. David Dingwall, a graduate of the University of Victoria, was injured when a blaze ripped through the rectory of St. Paul’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in the town, about 250 kilometres southeast of Washington, D.C.
Investigators believe the fire started Tuesday morning when a 56-year-old man, who was engulfed in flames, ran into the Shepherd’s Crook, a food pantry and clothing store on the rectory’s ground floor, the Town of Ocean City said in a statement.
The man, who was identified as John Raymond Sterner, died at the scene. Investigators are still trying to determine how Sterner caught fire. But they suspect an accelerant played a role in the fire’s rapid spread, the statement said.
Firefighters found Dingwall unconscious on the smoke-filled second floor during a search. He was taken to hospital, where he died from his injuries Tuesday night.
A woman, who was injured trying to escape the pantry, was also taken to hospital. Her name was not released.
“It’s such a ghastly thing to have happened,” said Rev. Bill Morrison, an early mentor of Dingwall during his time in the Anglican Diocese of B.C. on Vancouver Island.
The diocese said Dingwall served as priest in charge of Christ Church, Alert Bay and St. George, Kingcome Inlet from 1988 to 1991.
“He was a really fine person and a very caring man. … He was a good priest,” Morrison said.
Dingwall’s biography on the St. Paul’s by-the-Sea website said he and his wife, Brenda, their three sons and their dog Minnie moved to Maryland’s Eastern Shore in 2003. He became the rector of St. Paul’s in October, 2005. The Episcopal News Service said Dingwall would have turned 51 on Dec. 26.
