MANCHESTER, N.H. (WHDH) - New Hampshire officials have identified the four victims of a massive fire that broke out at an apartment building in Manchester on Monday morning.
The victims are 33-year-old Joshua Harrison, 39-year-old Ailene Moody, 10-year-old Joshua Harrison and 8-year-old Jay Michael Garon. The Medical Examiner determined all four people died of smoke inhalation.
The fire started just before 5 a.m. Monday. Firefighters raced to the scene on Wilson Street, but it was too late. Two of the victims were found dead inside and two more were pronounced dead at the hospital. All four victims were in the same apartment on the second floor.
This is the deadliest fire in New Hampshire since 1983. Thirty other residents were displaced by the fire.
“I still can’t believe it happened, I’m still trying to get it to sink in, even though I’m sitting here staring at it,” said Jimmy Day, the victims’ best friend.
“My prayers and thoughts go out to the families of the deceased,” New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan said. “As always, this is a really important reminder of how fragile life is.”
The building was last inspected on Dec. 17, 2015. The building inspector said all units in the building had working smoke detectors and there were no complaints on file about the building.
Investigators were on the scene for hours, trying to identify a cause.
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