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RCMP and fire investigators from the Manitoba Fire Commissioners Office investigate a fire where four men died in a residential trailer in Selkirk, Man., early Saturday, February 11, 2012. (John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS) Manitoba fire

Four men dead after trailer fire in Manitoba

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CTV National News: Investigating cause of fire
Investigators are searching for the cause of a deadly fire at a trailer home in Manitoba. One escaped the blaze, four others, including a father and son, died. Jeff Keele has more on the devastating fire and a community consumed by grief.
CTV News Channel: 4 men die in Manitoba fire
Line Karpish with the RCMP discusses how investigators are trying to figure out how the fire started in a trailer port and shares what she knows about the victims.

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RCMP and fire investigators from the Manitoba Fire Commissioners Office investigate a fire where four men died in a residential trailer in Selkirk, Man., early Saturday, February 11, 2012. (John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS) Manitoba fire

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RCMP and fire investigators from the Manitoba Fire Commissioners Office investigate a fire where four men died in a residential trailer in Selkirk, Man., early Saturday, February 11, 2012. (John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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Date: Sat. Feb. 11 2012 10:18 PM ET

Police are probing a tragic fire that killed four men – including a father and his teenaged son – when a blaze destroyed a trailer north of Winnipeg.

Fire crews were called to the trailer in Selkirk early Saturday morning. By then, the trailer was engulfed in flames. Neighbours said they heard booming noises and windows shattering.

A 19-year-old man, who was visiting the trailer, escaped with minor injuries, police told The Canadian Press.

CTV Winnipeg's Rajeev Dhir identified the victims as Lawrence Traverse, 42, his 18-year-old son, Gerald Traverse, Jason Marsh, 39 and Aaron St. Jean, 37.

Two of the men, Lawrence Traverse and Marsh, lived in the trailer.

Marsh's older brother Earland was grief-stricken. He told CTV: "It's really shocking that you get woken up at six o'clock by someone pounding on your door saying, ‘Hey, this is what happened and you don't have a younger brother anymore."

Firefighters said the blaze engulfed every room of the dwelling, reducing it to a burnt shell.

"You're looking at temperatures of probably 1,000 degrees," Mike Partill of the Manitoba Fire Commissioner's office told CTV News.

Police said they're working with fire officials to determine the cause of the blaze.

"We still have more questions than answers but we're quite confident we're going to get to the bottom of this," RCMP Sgt. Line Karpish told CTV News Channel.

"Typically, fires progress quite quickly in these structures," Karpish said.

The trailer was in a trailer park about a 45 minute drive northeast of Winnipeg.

Freda Whiteway, who lives in a trailer across the street from the one that burned, said her family woke up early Saturday to the smell of smoke. Flames were coming from the trailer and firefighters were already on the scene.

Whiteway said the people who lived in the trailer kept neighbours awake with late-night parties.

"I used to get after them all the time to tell them not to party," Whiteway said. "They'd keep my granddaughter awake."

With a report from CTV Winnipeg's Rajeev Dhir and files from The Canadian Press

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