Two people have been found dead and one person was being detained after flames ripped through a University Place house early today.

Sheriff's deputies initially said the remains of one person were found in the burned house and two people were missing. They've now found two people dead in the house and detained a young man who also was staying there.

"Everybody is accounted for," Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.

Investigators are treating the fire as suspicious after deputies were at the house last week to arrest a 23-year-old man. His 61-year-old aunt applied for a restraining order against the young man Wednesday.

"We are looking at it as an arson until something tells us differently," Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said. "We don't know how it's going to turn out later today."

The 23-year-old man showed up at the fire scene this morning and was detained as part of the investigation, Troyer said.

Meanwhile, investigators found a woman dead in the kitchen. Another man, who is in his mid-50s, who used the basement as an office and living space also has been found dead. (Pierce County sheriff's investigators initially described the man as the uncle to the 23-year-old man. That now does not appear to the case.)

University Place firefighters, an arson detective, the Pierce County Fire Marshal's Office and the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office were at the house.

"There's tons of insulation and sheet rock that have come down and buried the rooms," Troyer said.

Firefighters were called to the house in the 5500 block of 64th Avenue West at 2:11 a.m.

They found the remains of a body badly burned in the back side of the house while fighting the flames, Troyer said. The flames were doused before they spread to any other homes.

Investigators believe the fire started inside the home.

Last week, deputies were called to the house after a pit bull was concerning neighbors. Deputies arrested the nephew after he struggled with them, Troyer said. They had to fire bean bags and a Taser to get the man into custody.

The aunt applied for a domestic violence protection order Wednesday, stating her nephew has cursed at her and made threats, according to court documents. She requested to keep the dog and wanted the nephew to return her computer.

Deputies were at the house Wednesday, looking for the nephew, Troyer said.

Photos courtesy of Ed Troyer