The arson unit is investigating after two people were killed in a garage fire in Marlborough last night.

Fire crews were called to a home on Marpole Rd. N.E. after flames engulfed a garage at 7:30 p.m.

During their search, they discovered the bodies of two people inside the garage, said fire department spokesman Jeff Budai.

He said arson detectives are trying to determine the cause, although it doesn't appear to be deliberate.

"It doesn't seem suspicious in nature -- obviously we want to err on the side of caution," he said.

A vehicle was found in the garage up on jacks, leading investigators to believe the two victims may have been working on the car.

Paul Gozdawa-Boczkowski lives across the alley from where the fire broke out.

"When we heard it, it sounded like fireworks," he said. "It's disturbing."

His wife Saz said she heard what sounded like a small explosion earlier in the evening.

"Earlier I heard boom, boom, boom."

Another neighbour, Brian McDonald, also saw the tragedy unfold.

"I heard a large popping sound like a propane tank blowing up and saw the garage was engulfed in flames," he said.

The sex and age of the victims has not been released.

Last night's fire fatalities are the fifth and sixth in Calgary this year.

A Jan. 26 fire in Parkdale, during which a blaze broke out in a rented illegal basement suite, claimed three lives -- Tiffany Cox and Jonathan St. Pierre, both 19, and 23-year-old Colleen Mantei.

The owners were charged with two counts under the Alberta Fire Code relating to window size and failing to ensure each bedroom within the secondary suite had at least one outside window.

Charges were also laid against Akif Amin and Bushra Amin for failing to ensure smoke alarms were installed.

On Sept. 7, a lit cigarette was to blame for a blaze that killed Linda McGugan, who was found dead in her apartment in the 6400 block of Travois Pl. N.W.

KATIE.SCHNEIDER@SUNMEDIA.CA