EL MODENA : Man Dies in Van Fire; Freebasing Suspected
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A 42-year-old man burned to death in the back of his van in a residential neighborhood late Tuesday, apparently while he was freebasing drugs, sheriff’s officials said.
A resident in the 19100 block of Country Hollow called police at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday to report that a van parked on the street was ablaze. When fire officials arrived, they found the body of Andrew McDonald Tancredi in the back of the van.
In recent weeks, Tancredi had been sleeping in his van outside his sister’s home on the block, located in the unincorporated area of El Modena, within the city of Orange, Lt. Ron Wilkerson said.
Investigators later found drug paraphernalia in the van, including a mini-torch and a bottle of ether, suggesting that Tancredi might have been freebasing when the fire started, Wilkerson said.
Freebasing involves using a pipe and a mini-torch to burn the drug and inhale the fumes.
Tancredi was a handyman and a welder. The fire caused some welding tanks in the van to explode, Wilkerson said.
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