DA: No detectors found after 6 died in house fire

MCKEESPORT, Pa. (AP) — Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. says investigators found no smoke detectors in a home where six people, including four children, died in a fire last month.

Zappala says his office is still investigating whether the landlord violated McKeesport’s rental ordinance as investigators try to pinpoint the fire’s cause. Arson and accidental causes like faulty electrical wiring have been ruled out. Although the fire’s cause is still officially “undetermined” investigators are trying to confirm whether someone smoking on a couch caused the fire.

The Oct. 18 blaze in McKeesport killed 55-year-old Ronald Egenlauf Sr., his 27-year-old daughter-in-law Hope Jordan, and her four children, ages 2 through 7.

Jordan and her children lived in the home after she married Egenlauf’s son, 23-year-old Keith, who escaped with severe burns.