PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- A Pawtucket man remains in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital, where he is being treated for severe burns to his head, back, chest and arms, Pawtucket Fire Capt. Robert Thurber said.
Richard Rak, 62, was injured in a fire Thursday morning at his apartment at the Burns Manor, a 92-unit senior housing complex on Park Street.
The fire appears to have started by an extension cord that overheated, said Jack Chartier, the state fire marshal. Investigators found Rak had connected a ceramic space heater to the extension cord.
The fire set off the building's fire alarm system at 5:43 a.m. Thursday. Smoke filled the first-floor hallway by the time firefighters reached the man's apartment, said Thurber, the city's fire marshal. Firefighters forced the locked door open and found the man face down on the floor trying to crawl to safety.
A tenant in the apartment above was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, Thurber said. No other injuries were reported.
Residents in the two-story building were evacuated to a community room in a separate building.
An earlier version of this story was published at 8:47 a.m.