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In each of the fatal fires, alcohol played a role in either causing the fire or preventing victims from escaping their burning homes.

FIRES

Jan. 30, 1993

Freeman Robinson, 55, and his 44-year-old brother Kern Robinson began drinking 100-proof vodka at noon on a frigid Saturday in Vinalhaven. They were trying to light a portable kerosene stove outside a fish shanty. According to Freeman's wife, Lauretta Robinson, who sat in a car nearby, her husband leaned over the heater and she heard a whoosh. Kerosene from the heater ignited Freeman Robinson's clothes. As Kern Robinson tried to extinguish the fire, his nylon parka went up in flames. Both men died of burns that covered most of their bodies. Freeman Robinson's blood-alcohol level was 0.20 percent. Kern Robinson was rushed to the hospital to be treated, and his blood was not tested. He died a few days after the fire.

Feb. 21, 1993

Thirty-four-year-old Raymond Cole was found dead on the floor near his bed in his fire-ravaged mobile home in Maxfield. Investigators say a wood stove ignited the fire. Cole's blood-alcohol level was 0.12 percent.

May 19, 1993

The smoke alarm went off in 63-year-old Diane Peach's home in Gray and woke her grandson. Before he escaped, he tried unsuccessfully to rouse Peach, who was asleep on the living-room couch. Investigators believe that Peach dropped a lit cigarette inside or near the couch. The woman's blood-alcohol level was 0.34 percent.

July 1, 1993

Firefighters found the body of Marilyn Brooks, 63, in her bathtub after she had badly burned her face, arms, legs and thigh in a cooking fire in her Brewer home. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.11 percent.

Aug. 12, 1993

Russell Wilson, 56, lived in a shanty behind 473 Commercial St., Portland. While smoking and drinking, he managed to light his clothes on fire. He died of burns over 65 percent of his body. His blood-alcohol level was 0.43 percent.

Nov. 19, 1993

A carelessly discarded cigarette ignited the living-room couch of George McSheffrey's home in Houlton. His family told investigators that the 48-year-old man was a heavy smoker who often drank heavily. McSheffrey's blood-alcohol level at the time of death was 0.25 percent.

Dec. 18, 1993

In Fryeburg, 22-year-old Todd Frasier was found in his car on a logging road off Route 302. He had pulled off the road, left his engine running and fallen asleep. Sometime during the night, his car caught fire. Frasier died of smoke inhalation. His blood-alcohol level was 0.23 precent.

ACCIDENTS

• A 39-year-old man died from alcohol poisoning in Brunswick on Aug. 11. His blood-alcohol level was 0.44 percent.

• A 46-year-old man drowned while swimming in Biscay Pond in Bristol on July 5. His blood-alcohol level was 0.41 percent.

• A 29-year-old woman died of drug and alcohol poisoning in Portland on Oct. 18. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.38 percent.

• A 35-year-old man died of alcohol poisoning in Brewer on Nov. 21. His blood-alcohol level was 0.38 percent.

• A 41-year-old man died from injuries he sustained after falling down stairs in Portland on March 19. His blood-alcohol level was 0.34 percent.

• A 46-year-old woman died from a fall from a sixth-floor window in Portland on July 30. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.33 percent.

• A 41-year-old man died from drug and alcohol poisoning in Westbrook on Dec. 31. His blood-alcohol level was 0.29 percent.

• A 63-year-old man died days after falling from stairs in his home in Lewiston on May 1. His blood-alcohol level was 0.28 percent.

MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS

• A 30-year-old male passenger died when the pickup he was riding in crashed into a tree in Charlotte on April 10. His blood-alcohol level was 0.31 percent.

• A 30-year-old woman died after the car she was driving rolled over in Hodgdon on May 16. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.30 percent.

• A 27-year-old man was killed when the pickup he was driving rolled over in Belfast on Oct. 10. His blood-alcohol level was 0.29 percent.

• A 53-year-old man died when the car he was driving collided with another in Lamoine on Nov. 28. His blood-alcohol level was 0.28 percent.

• A 41-year-old man died after driving his car into a rock in Indian Purchase 4 in Penobscot County on Jan. 21. His blood-alcohol level was 0.28 percent.

• A 33-year-old woman died when the car she was a passenger in collided with another car in Dixfield on Oct. 10. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.28 percent.

• A 49-year-old woman died when the car she was driving rolled over in Brunswick on Aug. 28. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.27 percent.

• A 25-year-old man was killed when the car he was driving rolled over in Machias on June 27. His blood-alcohol level was 0.27 percent.

SUICIDES

• A 48-year-old woman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Parsonsfield on March 26. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.34 percent.

• A 33-year-old man shot himself in Winterport on June 17. His blood-alcohol level was 0.32 percent.

• A 45-year-old man killed himself in a car crash in Hermon on April 18. His blood-alcohol level was 0.32 percent.

• A 40-year-old woman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Lewiston on Aug. 23. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.29 percent.

• A 44-year-old man shot himself in Portland on May 14. His blood-alcohol level was 0.26 percent.

• A 21-year-old man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Bucksport on March 14. His blood-alcohol level was 0.24 percent.

• A 43-year-old woman died of a drug and alcohol overdose in Caribou on April 6. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.22 percent.

• A 35-year-old man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in South Portland on May 13. His blood-alcohol level was 0.20 percent.

• A 22-year-old man hanged himself in a Fairfield barn April 30. His blood-alcohol level was 0.19 percent.