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Clinton Fire Victim was 911 Caller

In the fatal fire that claimed the life of a Clinton man and his dog on Feb. 28, investigators surmise that two of the trailer’s three exits were blocked by fire or smoke and the third obstructed by an overhang over the door. The victim, 85-year-old Robert Sliby, was able to call in the fire but unable to escape his home.

Investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s office, Clinton Fire Marshal’s office, and Clinton Police Department found no evidence of arson or any other crime.

“Because of the intensity of the fire,” said Clinton Police Sgt. Jeremiah Dunn, “if there was any evidence about what caused the fire, it was probably consumed.”

The Clinton Volunteer Fire Department responded to a report of a structure fire on Feb. 28 at 7:57 a.m. at Evergreen Springs mobile home park, 229 Killingworth Turnpike. Upon arrival, fire crews found the mobile home engulfed in flames.

Firefighters from several local departments, including Old Saybrook and Madison, were called in to battle the blaze. Shortly after arriving, crews entered the burning home and found Sliby unconscious on the floor. They removed him from the home and began CPR in an attempt to resuscitate him. He was transported to the Shoreline Clinic in Westbrook, where he was pronounced dead. Sliby’s dog also perished in the fire.

The fire was fully extinguished a short time later, according to a written statement by Sgt. Jeremiah F. Dunn, public information officer for the Clinton Police Department.

Investigators were able to determine that the fire most likely began in the living room area, in the front of Sliby’s home.

“The victim,” said Dunn, “was actually the caller.”

Police and fire investigators believe Sliby was awoken by the fire. Although he called 9-1-1 and fire crews arrived within minutes, it was too late. Sliby succumbed to smoke and burn-related injuries.

At the main entrance to the home, said Dunn, “the fire was intense and roaring,” preventing Sliby from crawling through or escaping on foot. Heat and smoke near a second exit in the middle of the trailer, in the kitchen area, also would have forced him back. The third exit—and the only one not impassable because of smoke or flames—was blocked.

“An overhang outside the door had collapsed, making the door inoperable,” Dunn stated.

The deadly blaze was the latest in a history of fires at Evergreen Springs, including one as recently as January 2014, where a five-year-old boy and his family lost all of their belongings, and one in December 1991 that claimed the lives of three siblings, ages four, two, and one, who perished when flames swept through their trailer.