A 46-year-old homeless man with a mental health crisis died while inside a building that caught fire earlier this month in Newberg, investigators said.
Ricardo Garcia died of smoke inhalation after setting the 33,000-square-foot building ablaze on April 10, Newberg-Dundee police said.
“This case can only be summed up as an unfortunate tragedy, stemming from the underlying behavioral health issues that affect so many Oregonians every day,” Newberg-Dundee police said in a statement Friday. “Our thoughts are with the family of Mr. Garcia.”
Garcia called 911 around 2 a.m. to say he had a medical problem in the garden section of a Fred Meyer grocery store on North Springbrook Road, police said.
Emergency services were dispatched first, but police were dispatched later when Garcia told the 911 operator he was being chased by “vampires.” Later in the call, Garcia said he was “going to start a fire,” police said.
Officers responding to the Fred Meyer did not find Garcia, but did notice smoke billowing from a building across the street. Firefighters and police responded to the burning building on the west side of Springbrook, which quickly became engulfed in flames and collapsed. Firefighters were unable to search inside the building that night and for several more days due to dangerous conditions, police said.
Investigators determined the name given by the 911 caller was an alias for a wanted person named Ricardo Garcia, authorities said.
Investigators tracked Garcia’s recent appearances at two Newberg shelters and found recent images of Garcia that matched the appearance of a person seen on April 10 walking near the building in Springbrook.
Police searched the rubble on April 18 and found the body of a man who was later identified as Garcia, authorities said.
The building, which houses dental equipment manufacturer DCI International, was a “total loss,” police said.
— Catalina Gaitan
