Posted on Mon, Oct. 19, 2009
Investigators have determined smoking and a faulty space heater were the causes of two separate deadly fires last week, officials said today.
Neither home had a working smoke detector.
In the first fire, Charles Ingram, 52, was found dead last Monday morning in the kitchen of a house filled with clutter in the 1400 block of Felton Street in West Philadelphia.
Fire Department Executive Chief Daniel Williams said investigators determined the fire was started by smoking.
No smoke detector was found in the house.
In the second blaze, Michael Scioli, 63, was found dead in the front second floor bedroom of his 3-story rowhome on the 1200 block of Ellsworth Street in South Philadelphia early Tuesday.
Williams said the fire was sparked by a failure in a space heater's electrical cord.
A smoke detector was found in the house, but it did not have working batteries, he said.
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