SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Kingston Fire Chief Nathaniel Barrington said Wednesday that it was still unclear how veteran volunteer firefighter Allan “Pickles” LePage, 67, suffered a mortal head injury at the station on Monday afternoon.

Barrington, in a news conference, said another firefighter discovered LePage, unconscious and bleeding heavily, in the bucket of a fire truck’s ladder tower, about 20 feet above the ground.

LePage was responsible for maintaining the Kingston Fire District’s apparatus, and there was speculation that while in the bucket he struck his head on the top sill of a station bay.

“We do not know at this time what caused this expert in ladder truck operations to be injured by the truck he knew so well and trained so many to operate,” Barrington said. “This will be a focus of the ongoing investigation.”

He said the truck would be examined by an independent party and would be kept out of service until that examination is completed.

LePage, discovered at about 2:45 p.m., was taken to South County Hospital and later airlifted to Rhode Island Hospital, Providence. He died there shortly before 11 Tuesday morning.

His wake is scheduled for 3 to 7 p.m. Friday in the Avery-Storti Funeral Home, Wakefield. The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in the University of Rhode Island’s Ryan Center. Burial will be private.

“In my 30-year association with the fire district, ‘Pic’ has been a constant,” Barrington said. “He was a friend, a tireless firefighter and truly defines the best in a firefighter and neighbor. He grumbled a lot but never failed to try new things and always, always thought of his duty, his neighbors, his brothers and sisters of the fire community before himself.”

With staff reports from Donita Naylor

rdujardi@projo.com

Correction: An earlier version of this story gave the incorrect days of the accident and LePage's subsequent death.