• Tribe looks inward for the way out
• A native returns to help her troubled people heal
• Alcoholism stalks tribes, factors in high death rates

Alcohol contributes to hundreds of deaths of Maine people each year. The following is a selected listing of deaths from fires, accidents, motor vehicle crashes and suicides from 1996.

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

FIRES

April 20, 1996

Twenty-seven-year-old Jason King died in a fire that started in the cushions of a couch in his Sanford home. Investigators blamed a carelessly discarded cigarette. King's blood-alcohol level was 0.25 percent.

Dec. 28, 1996

In Biddeford, Teresa Addonizio, 69, died in a fire that originated on her living-room couch. Investigators believe that a carelessly discarded cigarette ignited Addonizio's clothing and the couch. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.20 percent.

ACCIDENTS
These are among the 1996 victims with the highest blood-alcohol content:

A 42-year-old man died of alcohol poisoning in Scarborough on May 6. His blood-alcohol level was 0.42 percent.

A 36-year-old woman died in a fall from stairs at her Farmington home on March 9. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.35 percent.

A 40-year-old man overdosed on drugs and alcohol in Stillwater on July 24. His blood-alcohol level was 0.34 percent.

A 21-year-old man died after being ejected from an all-terrain vehicle in Hampden on July 12. His blood-alcohol level was 0.31 percent.

A 41-year-old man crashed his snowmobile into a ice-fishing shack in New Limerick on Feb. 3. His blood-alcohol level was 0.31 percent.

A 29-year-old man died from an accidental gunshot wound in New Gloucester on July 12. His blood-alcohol level was 0.29 percent.

A 57-year-old man drowned after his can capsized in Eustis on July 2. His blood-alcohol level was 0.28 percent.

A 41-year-old man choked on food in Westbrook on Nov. 28. His blood-alcohol level was 0.27 percent.

MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS
These are among the 1996 victims with the highest blood-alcohol content:

A 27-year-old man was killed when the car he was driving collided with another car in Lebanon on Aug. 16. His blood-alcohol level was 0.35 percent.

A 26-year-old man was killed when the car he was driving collided with a pickup and trailer in Turner on Sept. 7. His blood-alcohol level was 0.32 percent.

A 24-year-old man died when the car he was driving rolled over in Augusta on Oct. 6. His blood-alcohol level was 0.28 percent.

A 19-year-old man lying in a roadway was killed when he was struck by a pickup in Oxford on Jan. 7. His blood-alcohol level was 0.27 percent.

A 46-year-old man died when the car he was driving crashed into a tree in Brownfield on May 21. His blood-alcohol level was 0.27 percent.

A 30-year-old man drove his vehicle into a utility pole in Bangor on Dec. 22. His blood-alcohol level was 0.27 percent.

A 38-year-old woman died after the car she was riding in struck a moose in Molunkus on May 6. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.26 percent.

A 40-year-old man was killed when the truck he was driving rolled over in Readfield on July 21. His blood-alcohol level was 0.25 percent.

SUICIDES
These are among the 1996 victims with the highest blood-alcohol content:

A 35-year-old man shot himself in the chest in Alton on March 19. His blood-alcohol level was 0.33 percent.

A 46-year-old man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Winslow on May 16. His blood-alcohol level was 0.25 percent.

A 52-year-old man shot himself in Allagash on April 2. His blood-alcohol level was 0.25 percent.

A 70-year-old man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Pownal on July 16. His blood-alcohol level was 0.23 percent.

A 43-year-old woman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Boothbay Harbor on Jan. 29. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.22 percent.

A 36-year-old man shot himself in the chest in Sidney on Aug. 23. His blood-alcohol level was 0.22 percent.

A 49-year-old man hanged himself in Big Squaw Township in Piscataquis County on Dec. 20. His blood-alcohol level was 0.22 percent.

A 29-year-old woman overdosed on drugs and alcohol in Lewiston on Nov. 13. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.21 percent.

Sources: The state Fire Marshal's Office and the state Medical Examiner's Office.