Police have identified the man who was found dead inside a residence destroyed by a fire and explosion in Newfane last week as the homeowner.
The cause and manner of 56-year-old Russell A. Buzby’s death remain under investigation, according to a press release Wednesday from Vermont State Police.
The explosion last week at the home in Newfane resulted from a fire in the residence that ruptured an oxygen tank, Adam Silverman, a Vermont State Police spokesperson, said this week.
The cause of the initial fire also remains under investigation, Silverman said.
Police and multiple fire departments were called to the single-family home at 521 Route 30 in Newfane around 1 a.m. Friday after receiving several calls reporting an explosion. Buzby’s body was found inside the home, according to state police.
Buzby was believed to be the only person inside the house at the time of the explosion, police said. The home was considered a total loss.
Vermont State Police had also been asked to probe the cause of a fire that killed one person in a storage shed on Park Street in Springfield on Sunday. Silverman said that investigation is also ongoing.
Springfield police are conducting the death investigation in that case, he said.
Springfield Police Chief Jeffrey Burhman said Wednesday that authorities are still working with the Chief Medical’s Examiner’s Office in Burlington to identify that victim.