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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.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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