CLAREMONT — Firefighters found a deceased woman in a Stewart Avenue home that burned early Thursday morning, according to a news release from the Claremont Fire Department.
The Fire Department is not identifying the victim or her cause of death pending autopsy results, the release said.
An autopsy by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is scheduled for Friday, according to a separate news release from the New Hampshire Office of the Fire Marshal. The office is investigating the fire along with the Claremont Fire Department.
Firefighters found heavy fire encompassing a single-story, wood-frame home when they responded to a structure fire at 4:30 a.m. Thursday. Firefighters also learned upon arrival that the sole occupant of the home was missing, according to the Fire Marshal’s Office.
They first entered the home to battle the blaze from the inside and conducted a search in part of the home, according to the Claremont Fire Department. Crews could not access other areas because of structural collapse.
Crews brought the fire under control in about an hour, though they remained on scene as of about 7:40 a.m. Monday “extinguishing hot spots and conducting overhaul operations.”
Firefighters found the victim after the fire was extinguished, the Fire Marshal’s Office reported. The Fire Department and Fire Marshal’s Office are still investigation the origin and cause of the fire, but it “is not currently considered suspicious,” according to the release.
The home is owned by Elizabeth Hopkins, who purchased it in July for $129,900, according to city property records.
In addition to the Claremont Fire Department, the Claremont Police Department, Golden Cross Ambulance and fire departments from Unity, Windsor and Weathersfield assisted with the response.
This story was updated with new information at 11 a.m. Thursday.
