MENDOCINO COUNTY, Calif. – The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that the investigation into the deaths of a father and son killed in a Potter Valley house fire last September has been concluded, with no suspicious cause found.

Lt. Greg Van Patten of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said the county’s chief deputy coroner classified the deaths of Earle McDaniel, 87, and his son Wesley McDaniel, 55, as accidental.

The men died in a fire that occurred at 10580 Main St. in Potter Valley on the morning of Sept. 29, as Lake County News has reported.

Some family members had escaped the fire, but the two men did not and their bodies later were found after firefighters put out the blaze, according to sheriff’s reports.

The investigation continued until Dec. 13, when the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office provided an approximately 200-page investigative report to the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office for an official review, according to Van Patten.

He said sheriff's detectives believed the information collected did not substantiate an allegation of arson made by Dawn McDaniel, a surviving occupant of the residence.

Van Patten said statements obtained from two children who also were survivors of the fire suggested the fire had accidentally started as the result of an unattended burning candle.

The location of the candle was consistent with the origin of the fire as witnessed by Cal Fire Chief Chris Rowney and Potter Valley Fire Chief Bill Pauli upon their arrival at the residence, Van Patten said.

He said the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office concluded its official review of the sheriff's office investigative report on Dec. 18 and determined there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate the fire was anything but accidental.