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Woman Dies In House Fire On Utica Street

DENVER (CBS4) - A fire in Denver overnight left a woman dead.

The blaze broke out at about 3:30 a.m. Saturday in the 7,000 block of Utica Street. Firefighters say Harry Claussen was able to escape, but his wife was still inside. Firefighters tried to resuscitate her, but she died.

Firefighters suspect a space heater caused the fire.

"The male patron who was able to get out; was very lucky to get out himself, unfortunately his wife was lost," Lt. Phil Champagne with Denver fire said.

Neighbors say Pearl Claussen will be missed.

"I know he loved her dearly, very dearly. He retired kind of early and was taking care of her. I've seen the grandchildren come and visit all the time," neighbor Mark Contreras said. "It going to be a sad lose in the neighborhood. They were the last two original people on the block.

Firefighters want to remind people to use space heaters with caution, keeping them at least 3 feet away from combustible material.

Fire Map
(credit: CBS)

"The extension cord was run underneath the rug and that's never a good thing to use an extension cord underneath the rug it can't dissipate the heat," Champagne said. "We'd just like to caution the public who use portable heaters to really be vigilant, to make sure they're at least 36 inches away from all combustible materials."

the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that space heaters cause more than 300 deaths every year, with thousands more suffering burns.

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