Family and friends of the man and woman found dead at a burned home in Monroe appeared to be in shock late Wednesday morning, their first opportunity to come to the scene and speak to investigators.

Firefighters found the bodies of Kimberly Beauregard and Robert Doremus, both 54, while responding to the fire at the home at the top of Elm Road just after 2 a.m. Wednesday.

"Just trying to figure out what happened," said a man who identified himself as Doremus' brother. "[I found out] on Facebook...I got the news there was a fire here. I live in Pennsylvania, so it's been a rough morning."

When asked by a reporter to share some stories about Doremus, the man struggled to speak and had to stop the interview to collect himself.

Neighbors said they were jolted out of their beds by two sharp pops, followed by what they believed was an explosion.

"It sounded like a bomb went off," neighbor Jason Piaget said.

Piaget said that once he heard the apparent explosion, he ran down the road, still in his boxers, to alert other neighbors about the fire that was beginning to spread.

"The electrical lines caught on fire," Piaget recalled. "The flames were shooting really high in the air. It was a pretty hairy situation."

Several neighbors told Spectrum News that police had been called to the home multiple times in the past to handle disturbances.

State Police cannot yet say whether that history is a factor in their ongoing death investigation.

Autopsies on both bodies are being done by the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office.