The Latest: Police identify 4 victims of Manchester fire

MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Latest on a Manchester apartment fire that killed four people (all times local):

5 p.m.

Fire officials are identifying the four victims of a Manchester apartment fire as 33-year-old Joshua Harrison, 39-year-old Ailene Moody; 10-year-old Joshua Harrison and 8-year-old Jay Michael Garon.

The four died early Monday in a fire that destroyed a 12-unit apartment complex on the city’s east side. Police say Moody is the mother of both boys, and the elder Joshua Harrison is the father of the younger Joshua Harrison. The four lived in the same apartment unit.

Fire officials say they are still investing the cause of the fire, but there are no public safety concerns at this time.

The medical examiner’s office says the cause of death was smoke inhalation.

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2 p.m.

A Manchester neighbourhood is mourning the loss of two “bright,” ”tough” boys who died early Monday in a fast-moving fire that tore through the apartment building they lived in with two adults.

Officials haven’t released the names of the victims publicly. But friends and neighbours say the two boys, ages 8 and 10, were half-brothers. The four lived together in the apartment building on Manchester’s east side.

A makeshift memorial of candles and flowers has been built around a stop sign near the charred apartment complex.

A neighbourhoodnon-profit will host a celebration of the boys’ life Thursday and provide grief counsellors for other children at a Tuesday afternoon homework club.

Volunteers with the club say the two boys were smart, sometimes rambunctious and friends to many.