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No Foul Play In Groton House Fire That Killed Man, Woman

GROTON (CBS) -- Fire officials have determined that there are no signs of foul play in a Groton house fire that killed a man and a woman in late January.

The Middlesex District Attorney's Office identified the male victim on Monday as Douglas Palmisano, 66. The Chief Medical Examiner's Office has not yet completed the formal identification of the female victim.

Officials said the cause of the fire will remain officially undetermined.

The fire began on the first floor of a home on Wiley Street that was built in the 1800s, and was reported by neighbors who spotted the flames. The blaze caused extensive damage to the first floor, and the collapse of the second floor.

There was an electric space heater in the living room where the fire broke out. Officials say the residents were known to smoke while sitting on furniture in that part of the house, with one of them typically sleeping on a couch.

The blaze wasn't set intentionally, officials say, and they haven't ruled out the possibility that it was caused by a space heater, electrical failure, or improper disposal of smoking materials.

Investigators say there were no working smoke alarms or carbon monoxide detectors inside the home.

The fire was investigated by Groton Fire and Police and State Police through the Middlesex District Attorney's Office.

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