Man who perished in Milo fire identified

MILO – Investigator using DNA have identified the man who died in a Dec. 3 mobile home fire as 36-year-old Richard Frazier. Authorities have ruled that the fire started accidentally, and was likely caused by a cigarette left burning.

The state Fire Marshal’s Office released Frazier’s name Thursday, the same day investigators received the DNA results from the state police crime lab, reported Sgt. Stewart Jacobs.

Previously, authorities would only identify the man who died in the River Road mobile home as a 36-year-old man.

Jacobs also said that the investigation concluded that the fire began near a couch in the living room and that it most probably was caused by “careless use or disposal of smoking materials.”

A spokesman with the Maine Department of Public Safety previously reported that the man inside the mobile home was a heavy smoker.