MANCHESTER - A man critically burned when a mini-camper caught fire outside a Silver Street apartment building in September died Friday in a Boston hospital.

James "Peaches" Olmeda, 30, had been in an induced coma at Massachusetts General Hospital since the Sept. 29 fire outside 216 Silver St.

"He grew up rough but his heart was incredible," said Peter, a friend who asked his last name not be published.

Olmeda was a wide receiver on the Granite State Knights football team, according to his sister Fatima Khawaja.

He was born in Brooklyn and moved to Manchester about five years ago. He had a hard life after getting into drugs, said Dawn Khawaja, his cousin who was raised with him. "But he was funny and he loved to make people laugh," she said.

"He was just a good kid. He really was," Fatima Khawaja said.

Olmeda suffered burns to about 30 percent of his body and severe brain damage, caused from inhaling smoke and chemicals emitted when the camper burned, she said. The burns were healing, she said, but he died of complications from pneumonia.

The night of the fire, Olmeda was at a party at the Silver Street home of a friend, Adam Chapman. Chapman said Olmeda was unable to get a ride home and, since it was raining, he let him sleep in the camper. Twenty minutes later about 1:50 a.m., a neighbor banged on Chapman's door to tell him the camper was on fire.

Chapman said he burst into the camper, picked up Olmeda, put him over his shoulder and carried him outside.

Firefighters arrived and extinguished the blaze. Olmeda was taken to the Elliot Hospital and then transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital where he died Friday.

Chapman believes the fire was deliberately set, but fire officials said its cause remains undetermined. Fire, police and the state Fire Marshal's Office are all investigating the blaze.

Peter said the fire started in the front of the camper and Olmeda was in the rear of it.

Olmeda, he said, worked construction and as a telemarketer.

"He was a good guy who loved kids," said Peter. "He was as loyal as could be. He was always there if you needed help to move or lift something."

Anyone with information concerning the fire is asked to call Deputy Fire Chief Mitchell Cady at 669-2256 or Manchester police detective Tim Patterson at 668-8711.