GRAFTON — A 73-year-old Grafton man died Thursday following a house fire last week that left him with severe burns.

Gary Herschel’s official cause and manner of death are pending, a Friday news release from New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office said.

On Friday, March 28, a home belonging to Herschel and and his, wife, Gail, at 213 Spectacle Pond Road in Grafton was destroyed in a fire.

After escaping from the home and seeking assistance from a neighbor, Gary Herschel, was transported by Lebanon ambulance to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and then flown to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was placed in a medically induced coma, according to a GoFundMe page for the couple. 

Gary Herschel’s mother-in-law was also in the house at the time of the fire. When fire crews arrived, they found her safely outside the home. She was transported by ambulance to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, or DHMC, where she was treated and released last Saturday.

Gail Herschel was not home at the time, but the couple’s pets, four dogs and one cat, perished in the blaze. 

While the investigation into the origin and cause of the fire is active and ongoing by members of the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office, investigators currently believe the fire was accidental and involved a woodstove,” the release said.