Police, fire marshal investigating fire deaths in Sudbury

Investigators with the Office of the Fire Marshal and Greater Sudbury Police are working together to investigate a weekend fire in Sudbury that left two people dead.

The fire broke early Sunday morning, and firefighters initially said there were no injuries, but returned to the south end apartment building later in the day after the remains were discovered.

Few details have been released, but the victims are an elderly couple – an 85-year-old man and an 81-year-old woman -- who were not tenants in the unit involved in the fire, but lived in an adjacent unit.

On Monday investigators with the Office of the Fire Marshal were gathering evidence to try and determine the cause of the fire.

Sudbury police spokesperson Kaitlyn Dunn said police were told about the fatalities around 11 a.m. Sunday, adding they were found dead in their apartments by paramedics.

Greater Sudbury Fire Service said it got the initial call about heavy smoke and fire coming from a ground floor unit just after 3 a.m. Sunday and that the tenant made it out safely.

"It was very heavily involved and very hot," said Deputy Chief Jesse Oshell, Greater Sudbury Fire Service.

Crews also worked with residents in the complex, several of whom had to shelter in place due to medical conditions, while others were able to evacuate.

Oshell said after the fire call early Sunday morning, crews worked to ensure that the smoke and gases were cleared prior to anyone returning to the building.

Oshell said later in the morning firefighters, were called back to the scene.

"There was a bit of time that passed before (the victims) were discovered," he said.

"And fire services responded back to that location for a medical call for two individuals and obviously we worked with our partners at paramedic services on that expedited response."

Police said post-mortems on the man and woman are scheduled for Tuesday, adding they are not releasing their identities out of respect for the family.