By Howard Packowitz

NORMAL – The fire in Normal that claimed the life of a woman early Sunday morning was the first fire fatality in the town since the 1990’s.

Normal fire investigators have completed their on-scene work at 1538 Hunt Dr., where Diana McLaren-Osburne, 68, died from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning.

The fire department has yet to determine an exact cause or pinpoint the fire’s origin, although most of the damage to the four-unit townhouse-style condominium was to McLaren-Osburne’s residence.

She is the first person to die in a fire in Normal since a mobile home blaze claimed the lives of a woman and child.

Normal Fire Chief Mick Humer acknowledges some luck is involved that last weekend’s tragedy is such a rare event, but the chief also said firefighters and the community have worked to make sure people have functioning smoke detectors in their homes.

“We worked very hard through our prevention bureau to get the word out about working smoking detectors, carbon monoxide detectors,” said Humer.

“We have a lot of help in the community with community organizations, the Red Cross who go out and try to get smoke detectors in home that don’t have them,” Humer added.

The chief said firefighters reported hearing the smoke detectors when they arrived at the fire scene.

The fire department said all four units in the building are uninhabitable. The preliminary estimate of damage is $325,000.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]