The exact cause of the fire that killed a man inside his Gwinnett County motel room Sunday morning remains unclear — but "smoking materials in the presence of a medical oxygen device" have not been ruled out, officials said Tuesday.
Bruce Howell McShane, 67, was already dead when firefighters responded to his first-floor room at the InTown Suites on Suwanee's Celebration Drive around 2:15 a.m. Sunday. The room's sprinkler system had extinguished the blaze and prevented it from spreading.
Gwinnett County fire Deputy Chief Charles Wells said Tuesday that, while the precise cause is still undetermined, investigators believe the fire was accidental and no foul play is suspected.
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.
In all, Gwinnett County has seen 13 fire-related deaths this year. It saw only 18 in the previous five years combined.
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