By james art RCMP confirmed human remains were found in the rubble of the Driftwood Inn on Wednesday morning.
Police said the remains belonged to 77-year-old Eugene Spoon, who was a guest at the Deer Lake Motel. He had been missing since the building burst into flames on Saturday.
Spoon’s remains were found during a search of the scene, according to RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Jolene Garland.
“The human remains were found… inside the hotel, at the scene of the fire for lack of better words. And those remains were identified as the man who was reported missing in Deer Lake on the same day of the fire,” she said.
Spoon was visiting the countryside from Kansas, according to a missing persons report sent out by police after the fire. Garland said his family has been notified and police are offering their condolences.
Crews from four western Newfoundland communities battled the fire for more than 16 hours Saturday. It is not yet clear how the fire started, but the police investigation is ongoing. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is also involved.
Garland said there was no indication why Spoon was unable to get out of the motel after the fire started.
Guests staying at the motel questioned the building’s fire detection system when they spoke to CBC News on Saturday, saying they didn’t hear fire alarms or sprinklers go off and were instead awakened by banging on doors.
A raging fire at the Driftwood Inn in Deer Lake on Saturday has been confirmed as fatal. Police said Wednesday that the remains of a Kansas man were found in the rubble. CBC’s Colleen Connors has the update.
However, in a video sent to CBC News on Monday, alarm bells can be heard across the street from the hotel.
On Monday, Newfoundland and Labrador’s official opposition party called for an “urgent review” of what happened.
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