Officials no longer suspect arson as the cause of a fire that destroyed a mobile home and killed two cats Thursday night in Emerado, N.D.
Police Chief Tim Gillespie said investigators have determined that electrical wires in a living-room wall ignited the blaze.
A mother and her children -- a 3-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl -- lived in the home but were not there when the fire started. Gillespie said the displaced family is staying with relatives and is being assisted by the Salvation Army.
The fire was reported shortly before 9 p.m., and at about 10 p.m., firefighters were still extinguishing the blaze. The home was in the trailer court that sits just north of Emerado, a town about 13 miles west of Grand Forks.
Thursday, Gillespie told the Herald that police were treating the fire as a possible crime. There had been an allegation that the mother's ex-boyfriend intentionally set the fire, but an investigation proved otherwise, the chief said today.
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