The RCMP has released the ages and genders of two people who were found dead as firefighters responded to a house fire in Springhill, N.S.
The victims have been identified as a 45-year-old woman and a 42-year-old man. Their names have not been released.
Records indicate the home on Beaton’s Lane was purchased by a woman from North Bay, Ont. in December.
Neighbours told CTV News the couple recently moved to the area.
“We just started to get to know them, actually. They’ve only been down here a couple times,” said neighbour Jamie Henwood. “They stripped the house out and they were just getting ready to renovate it. Planned on retiring down here, I guess.”
Cumberland District RCMP responded to the home just before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Members of the Springhill Fire Department found the remains of the victims on the main floor of the home while they were extinguishing the fire.
“They quickly suppressed the fire and then search teams found the victims and then immediately removed them from inside,” Springhill Fire Chief Stanley Hunter told CTV News.
Hunter says the fire appears to have started in the basement of the home, which was under renovation. He also says the fire caused some internal damage to the home, but was extinguished quickly.
Autopsies will be conducted to determine a cause of death.
Police say they need more time to determine what happened, but they are treating the fire as suspicious at this time.
The Nova Scotia Medical Examiner's Service and the fire marshal’s office are assisting the RCMP with the investigation.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh
