PORTLAND, Maine _ UPDATED 11:00 AM _ With the death toll at five, officials say that all people who were inside the Noyes St. home when it caught fire Saturday morning have now been accounted for. But they say it may take several days to fully understand what happened.
"On behalf of the mayor and the council, I'd like to express our deepest sympathy. This is an enormous tragedy for our community." said Fire Chief Jerome LaMoria at a press conference late Saturday afternoon.
City officials say a sixth person remains in critical condition after the three-alarm fire swept through the double-apartment home, near the University of Southern Maine campus.
"It's my assumption that most of the occupants were asleep," says State Police Spokesman Stephen McCausland, "The previous night being Hallowe'en and a Friday." McCausland said in a statement Sunday morning that none of the victims are students at USM.
McCausland says seven people escaped the fire, some by leaping from windows. One person survived by leaping from a second story window, but according to witnesses the man was on fire and rolled when he hit the ground, dousing the flames; he was later transported to a Boston burn center in critical condition.
The five fatalities were removed from the burned-out home Saturday afternoon, but officials will likely work into Sunday and beyond to identify the victims, notify next of kin, and complete the investigation.
As part of that, says LaMoria, officials will investigate to see if any code violations may have existed in the building that contributed to the fire's deadly outcome. The investigation will also check for the presence of accelerant agents.
A support center has been set up at the University of Southern Maine to assist the families of the victims.
