A space heater was the cause of a house fire Wednesday that claimed the lives of two people, according to the Durant Fire Department.

Durant Police tentatively identified the victims as Troy Lee Coburn, 18, and Kathleen Marie Jolly, 23, pending positive identification from the State Medical Examiner’s Office.

Durant firefighters were dispatched to the home, located in the 200 block of West Tennessee Street, at 4:33 a.m., and upon arrival, the house was engulfed in flames, according to Durant Fire Marshal Wade Boyd.

“Two people got out and they said there were two more inside,” Boyd said.

Firefighters entered the home, but could not go far and were quickly forced out due to the heat, according to Boyd.

Boyd said a space heater that was located within a foot of the bed was the cause of the fire and that it likely caught the bedding on fire. He said the victims were found near a back door to the home, but were unable to escape.

Pam Poston and Craig Johnson were the other occupants of the home, and they were in a different part of the house. The door was closed to their room and according to Boyd, if it had not been closed, they might not have made it out either. There were no smoke detectors in the home.

They declined treatment at the scene for minor burns.