Brian Stephens, the 53-year-old owner of Tandy’s Top Shelf in Concord, died of smoke inhalation and burns after his car caught fire in rural Vermont on Sunday as he traveled home, police said.
Stephens, who lives in Farilee, Vt., was on his way home from a party when his car veered off Route 5 in Thetford as he tried to make a turn. Stephens tried to drive the car from the woods back onto the roadway, but the tires of his 2014 Kia Optima became stuck in the soft ground and snow, police said.
As Stephens continued to try to get the car back on the road, a fire broke out in the vehicle’s engine compartment and spread into the passenger area, police said. Stephens was able to exit the vehicle but died on the side of the road as a result of his injuries from the fire.
An autopsy by Vermont’s Chief Medical Examiner’s Office determined Stephens’ death was accidental as a result of “smoke inhalation and thermal injuries.”
Stephens co-owned Tandy’s – a popular dance club and restaurant in Eagle Square – with Greg Tandy. Stephens was married to Scott Graham who described his husband as a typical New Englander – stoic, quiet and frugal.
Their home in Fairlee is about 85 miles from Concord, but Stephens’s presence was palpable at Tandy’s on a regular basis. Graham said his husband drove to and from Concord five days a week.
Stephens loved animals and helped established a farm for rescued animals.
Route 5, where the car fire took place, runs north-south between Interstate 91 and the Connecticut River. The town of Thetford is immediately south of Farilee. State police said their investigation showed alcohol impairment was a factor in the incident.