Smoking may have caused fatal Weston fire

7/25/2008

WESTON A deadly fire at an apartment house in this Wood County village was likely caused by careless smoking, investigators said Friday, although the official cause of the blaze has been labeled "undetermined."

"It s undetermined but likely accidental, probably caused by careless smoking," said Shane Cartmill, spokesman for the state Fire Marshal s Office. "They found no evidence of criminal activity or malicious intent. They were able to rule out several things, but the one that remained that they could not rule out with 100 percent certainty was careless smoking."

Two individuals were killed in the July 13 blaze, although their remains still have not been positively identified. People who knew them at the scene identified them as Jimmy White, 69, and Ronald L. Perez, 45.

The fire displaced 28 others who lived at the eight-unit apartment house on Maple Street.

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