Authorities in central Pennsylvania say fire has claimed the lives of a mother and two young children.
Officials in Blair County said the blaze in the Altoona residence was reported just after 11 a.m. Saturday.
Coroner Patricia Ross told The (Altoona) Mirror that 31-year-old Jessica Giarth was killed along with 9-year-old Kea Barnes and 20-month-old Lyric Giarth.
Ross says Barnes was found dead inside the 2½-story, wood-frame house while the other two victims were pronounced dead at UPMC Altoona. She says all three died of smoke inhalation.
An Altoona fire inspector, a state police fire marshal and city police are investigating the cause of the blaze.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
