5 die in house with dead smoke alarms

HONESDALE, Pa. (AP) -- A fire Thursday in a house with inoperative smoke alarms killed five people, including three young children, in this quaint village in the Pocono Mountains.
Fire officials were called to the home shortly after 6 a.m. and quickly put out the blaze. But when they entered the house, the victims were already dead.
"They found one, then another one and then another one until they had a total of five," Fire Chief Stanton Pratt said.
Officials said the batteries in the home's smoke alarms were dead.
A state police fire marshal was investigating the cause of the blaze.
The victims were two women and the three children, two boys and a girl, officials said. A neighbor said the children ranged from age 2 to 4.
Authorities said the victims likely died of smoke inhalation. No names were released.
Floyd Rake said his 22-year-old daughter, Heather, was among those who died. She had been staying with the other woman and the children, he said, but had planned to move in with her fianc & eacute; this weekend.
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