2 dead in house fire in Miramichi, cause under investigation

Two people are dead following a house fire early Tuesday morning in Miramichi. 

Const. Jason Lavoie of Miramichi police said the call was received at 4:09 a.m. Tuesday about a house fire on Gordon Road, a sparsely populated road near the Miramichi airport. 

A 75-year-old man and a 76-year-old woman died as a result of the fire, he said, but the names of the victims are not being released to allow for the next of kin to be notified. 

Miramichi Fire Chief Stephen Melanson described the house as a two-storey, single-family dwelling. 

"When we arrived on scene, there was fire that was coming up out the back side of the house and a little bit of fire coming out onto the front side of the house as well. So it was approximately 50 per cent involved when we arrived there."

He said firefighters realized it was fatal "basically as soon as we got on scene."

"Whoever called it in, we treated it as a fatal just because when they called it in they thought there was two people inside, and there was attempts to rescue members inside the building."

Melanson said firefighters had the fire under control around 6 a.m. and continued to put out hotspots until about 11:15 a.m.

He said the Miramichi Fire Department concluded its preliminary investigation and "due to the nature of the fire and the occupants, it has been turned over to the fire marshal for a full investigation with Miramichi Police Department."