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Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Denver Police Detective Randy Denison, right, takes a statement from Scott Christiansen at Fero's Bar and Grill in Denver on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012, where the bodies of a man and four women were discovered after firefighters extinguished a fire at the bar early in the morning. Police think the blaze was set to cover up the slayings. Christiansen says he was a regular customer at the bar. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Denver police said they have no suspects in the killings of five people whose bodies were found at a neighbourhood bar after it was set on fire early Wednesday, apparently to cover up the slayings.

Police chief Robert White said there's nothing to indicate the deaths at Fero's Bar & Grill were a murder-suicide, raising the possibility that whoever is responsible is still at large. The victims included one of the bar's owners, a petite 63-year-old described by those who knew her as feisty and hard-working.

"It's very alarming, and that's why it's so important that we investigate it to the fullest," White said.

A police officer on patrol spotted the fire just before 2 a.m., closing time for most Colorado bars. Firefighters found four women and one man dead inside.

The Denver medical examiner said the victims included Young Fero of the Denver suburb of Aurora. State records identify her as one of the bar's owners, although it wasn't immediately clear if she had a business partner.

The other victims were identified as Daria M. Pohl, 22; Kellene Fallon, 45; Ross Richter, 29; and Tereasa Beesley, 45. Pohl, Fallon and Beesley were from Denver. Richter's hometown wasn't released.

The medical examiner didn't release the cause of death.

The five dead were believed to be the only people in the bar when the fire started, other than the suspect or suspects. Police asked anyone who was there earlier to come forward.

The officer who reported the fire said he heard screams, but investigators said they likely came from bystanders outside.

"Based on the severity of the injuries, we don't think they came from inside," fire department spokesman Lt. Phil Champagne said.