Officials: Careless Smoking Apparently Started Deadly Blaze
ERIE, Pa. (AP) - Authorities in northwestern Pennsylvania say careless smoking appears to have started a fire that killed a woman and her teenage granddaughter.
The county coroner said the blaze reported just before 3 a.m. Friday in the first-floor apartment in Erie killed 66-year-old Marianne Martin and 14-year-old Taylor Troutman.
The (Erie) Times-News reports that the coroner ruled both deaths accidental. The cause of death is pending toxicology test results.
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Erie fire officials said the woman was found on the dining room floor and the teenager was found in a bedroom. Five people in the second-floor apartment escaped unharmed.
A fire inspector said two smoke alarms were found in the unit, but it was unclear whether they were working, although one occupant on the second floor reported hearing an alarm.
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