The man found dead Sunday morning in his smoky Gwinnett motel room died of natural causes, not anything fire-related, officials said Wednesday.
Eddie Reeves of the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner's Office said 67-year-old Bruce Howell McShane died of "preexisting natural disease" and had no signs of smoke or soot inhalation.
The fire that broke out in McShane's room at the Sun Suites on Suwanee's Celebration Drive did so after his death, Reeves said.
Fire investigators said Tuesday they had not yet determined an official cause for the blaze but hadn't ruled out "smoking materials in the presence of a medical oxygen device." Sprinkles contained the fire to McShane's room.
McShane's death came almost exactly a week after five people died as flames ripped through a home on Duluth's Post Oak Drive.
A 19-year-old mother and her father were among those killed.
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