LACONIA — The investigation into Wednesday's fatal house fire on Highland Street is expected to take an extensive amount of time to complete, an investigator said Friday.
“When it’s a fatal, the investigation takes longer. It could be weeks” before it’s complete, Matthew Wilmot, a state fire investigator with the state Fire Marshal’s office said.
The investigation process includes reviewing the reports of interviews with several witnesses regarding the fire at the three-story duplex house at 169-171 Highland St.
Wilmot said investigators have so far only been able to definitively conclude that the fire was an accident.
Virginia Higgins, 89, who lived on the first floor of the building died due to smoke inhalation, according to the autopsy.
Mrs. Higgins was the only person inside the house at the time of the fire which was discovered around 2 p.m.
– Michael Mortensen
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