Crime & Safety

One Victim In Fatal Fire Identified

Man and woman die in Friday blaze; police continue to investigate what has been deemed a suspicious fire

One of two people killed in a fire that destroyed a Blinman Street residence on Friday evening has been identified.

Zak Leavy, executive assistant to Mayor Daryl Finizio, said 57-year-old Noel Starback was a resident of 36 Blinman Street. Leavy said the second victim has not yet been positively identified.

The are located near Blinman Street, and firefighters were first notified of the blaze by people who ran to the station. Firefighters and administered CPR to Starback, who later died at .

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Leavy said the fire is considered suspicious and is under investigation by the , , State Police Major Crime Unit, and State Fire Marshal's Office. The Chief Medical Examiner will conduct autopsies on Monday to determine Starback's cause of death and help identify the second victim.

Five people were living in the house at the time of the fire, and the other four residents have been accounted for.

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According to news archives, Starback helped rescue residents from another fatal fire on Orchard Street on Jan. 11, 2010. According to WTNH, Starback was working in the area when he noticed the fire and helped get people out of the first-floor apartment. He also went to the second floor of the burning building to try to evacuate two residents there but was unable to enter their apartment. One of these residents, 33-year-old Dinyse Smith, was later pronounced dead at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital.

Starback was a 1972 graduate of Waterford High School, according to the archives of .

Anyone with any information on the fire should contact the New London Police Department's detectives at 860-447-1481.

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