Teacher’s aide ignited himself after crash

PROVIDENCE—A teacher’s aide who was killed when he crashed his car into a high school last month lit himself on fire immediately after the collision, according to a report from the state fire marshal released Wednesday.

The report said Jay Paul, who worked as a special education teacher’s aide at Lincoln High School, drove his car into the front of the one-story brick building, then used a butane lighter and an “ignitible liquid” from a gasoline container to commit suicide.

The report said Paul, 34, was identified through dental records and that he died from smoke inhalation and burns. Students had been dismissed about an hour before the Oct. 3 crash.

The fire consumed Paul’s clothes and the car, and spread to the school, where it damaged two small classrooms and the walls, ceiling and floors of a hallway.

The report did not indicate whether Paul intended to hurt anyone other than himself.

School officials have refused to discuss the case, and a phone message left at the superintendent’s office was not immediately returned Wednesday.