Fire crews recovered the body of 66 year old Craig Gene Clemens from a Duluth home that was destroyed by an early morning fire.

As Julie Pearce reports, authorities believe the man may have been the victim of a carelessly handled cigarette and no access to early smoke detection.

It's the 18th house fire in the last four months and the first fatal fire of the year for Duluth.

The fire at 721 North 8th Ave. East violently erupted in the upstairs bedroom around 4:25 Monday morning.

Deputy Fire Marshall Ken Goossen says, "Shortly thereafter, they went in with a hoseline, knocked the fire down, they did find the victim in the upstairs unit."

The victim was found in the upstairs closet of the East Hillside duplex.

Police and fire officials began an investigation into the blaze and performed an autopsy on the body Monday afternoon.

Results of the autopsy indicate the man died of smoke inhalation.

An investigation of the fire's aftermath revealed the source of the blaze, "We determined that it was most likely an accidental fire and from what we could see at the scene, it leads us to believe that it was a carelessly handled cigarette."

Careless smoking is leading cause of fire deaths, but many of those could potentially be prevented by early detection using a smoke alarm, "They're cheap, they're easy to install, and they're very very reliable, so there's no excuse to not have one."

An investigation of the home's damage revealed not a single smoke alarm in the building, something that could have prevented this tragic outcome.

"We'll never know, but that could have made the difference," says Goossen.

Fire officials estimate damages to the building and its contents at nearly 100- thousand dollars.

Red Cross volunteers are assisting those residents who have been displaced by the loss.