Two Men Found Dead After Maine House Fire in Orono

ORONO, Maine -- An early morning fire claimed the lives of two middle-aged men Sunday.

State Fire Marshal Joe Thomas said a fire at 53 Hillside Road was reported at 3:19 a.m.

"Right now we've got two confirmed fatalities in the building," said Thomas late Sunday morning.

He said he did not have positive identification of the two men, but "we have good indications of who they probably are."

A third man was thought to have been in the building and was unaccounted for. However, he was located mid-morning in his apartment elsewhere, Maine Department of Public Safety Spokesman Stephen McCausland said in a statement.

One of the bodies was found on the second floor and the other was located in the first-floor living room, McCausland said.

The 1 1/2 story single-family home was destroyed in the blaze, according to the state fire marshal's office.

The wood stove is suspected of starting the fire.

"Our initial indication is leading us to something around the wood stove," said Thomas. "We've got to do some digging in there to confirm that. There's a wood stove in the living room and we've got fire all the way up to what would've been the stovepipe chase. There's a question around the thimble there. So we're checking into that."

Investigators say that no working smoke detectors were located in the house, according to McCausland.

Thomas said fire crews had the fire knocked down within an hour.

Bangor, Milford, Old Town and Orono fire departments responded to the fire call while the Veazie Fire Department stationed at the Orono Fire Department. Old Town, Orono and Veazie police also assisted.

Jane Howard, who lives a few houses down, was woken up by fire crews.

"I came down to the window and looked and it was a lot of flames and smoke coming out of the house," said Howard. "Flames were shooting out of the windows and a ton of smoke. The house was melting -- the front of it. It was really bad. Really bad."

Next of kin of the dead men are being notified and an update is expected Sunday afternoon, McCausland said.

The medical examiner's office is expected to perform autopsies tomorrow, said Thomas.

Watch bangordailynews.com for updates.