Victims of deadly fire in New Castle identified

The house fire was determined to be accidental.

STAFF REPORT

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A woman and her niece were the victims in a deadly house fire Monday, New Castle police and the fire department said.

Dawn Tray, 35, of 405 Pearson St., and Josalyn Barnes, 4, who also lived there, were pronounced dead at Jameson Hospital in New Castle after the 3 p.m. fire, police said.

The two were found in a second-floor bedroom by firefighters. Autopsies will be conducted, police said.

Pennsylvania State Police fire marshals and the New Castle Fire Department believe the fire started near a bookcase in the foyer on the first floor. They believe it was started by a lighted candle.

The fire was determined to be accidental, authorities said.

Authorities said Tray and her sister, Michelle Tray, were renting the house. Josalyn is Michelle Tray’s daughter, said the fire department. Michelle Tray had left the residence around 2:30 p.m. and was not home when the fire broke out, the department said.

The house, owned by Ron Carnevale of New Castle, was destroyed along with the house next door at 403 Pearson, authorities reported. No one was home there at the time.