A woman and two children were killed Monday night in a house fire in Old Town, according to the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

The victims were identified Tuesday night as Maiysha Somers-Jones, 34; Isis Doe, 10; and her 8-year-old brother, Zebulon Doe. Somers-Jones is the girlfriend of the children’s father, who was not at home when the fire broke out, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Autopsies were conducted Tuesday in Augusta by the state medical examiner’s office, but no additional information is being released. The State Fire Marshal’s Office has been joined by the Maine State Police in the investigation of the fire, McCausland said.

The fire, on Bradbury Street, was discovered by neighbors just after 10 p.m. Monday.

Firefighters entered the home and found the two children in an upstairs bedroom. They brought the boy and the girl outside but they could not be revived.

Somers-Jones’ body was found in a first-floor bedroom. The remains of all three victims were taken to the state medical examiner’s office.

“My heart is broken; it really is,” Holly Garrett, a neighbor, told WLBZ-TV in Bangor on Tuesday. “I didn’t sleep all night. I just came back from voting, I stopped by to see the pastor at the church. It’s just, my heart is really heavy today.”

Earlier Tuesday, McCausland said a team of five investigators from the fire marshal’s office had gone to the scene to try to pinpoint the cause of the fire. There were no signs of any working smoke detectors in the home, investigators said.

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey contributed to this report.


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