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Elderly fire victim identified The victim of a fire that destroyed a house on North Phoenix Road Thursday tentatively has been identified as the elderly widow who lived there alone. Dental records confirmed the identity of Mabel Ishiguro Urano, 76, whose badly burned body was found in a bedroom at the rear of the house, authorities said Friday. Official confirmation is pending additional testing by a forensic orthodontist. Meanwhile, an autopsy revealed that Urano died from smoke inhalation. Her death was ruled an accident, although the cause of the blaze has not been established. Fire investigators believe it originated in the victim�s bedroom. "They�ve pinpointed it right down to the square foot," said Medford Fire Planning Chief Larry Anderson. "They just don�t have the cause yet." The fire was reported at 3:47 a.m. Thursday by a passing motorist. Firefighters said the house was engulfed in flames on their arrival. Anderson said a Medford Fire investigator and a deputy state fire marshal are combing through the rubble, looking for clues to the cause of the fire. Urano was not a smoker, and candles do not appear to be the culprit. Other causes, particularly wiring or an electrical short circuit, are among the possibilities. "They�re usually able to figure it out," Anderson said. "It�s a science, what those guys do." Samples from the house were shipped to a testing laboratory to help analyze the cause of the blaze. The results were expected to take several weeks. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.