A fire in a Horsham Township building that killed one woman and sent two men to a burn center was caused by a cigarette butt, a township official said yesterday.
Fire Marshal George Fida said the accidental blaze started early Monday when a smoldering cigarette was thrown into a trash can next to an outside wall of the house at 165 Moreland Ave.
Eighteen illegal immigrants were living in the 19th-century stone building. The flames destroyed a kitchen and a shed adjoining a first-floor apartment, where the dead woman was found. The building is a triplex.
Fida identified the victim as Maria Magdalena Obando Rivas, 32. She was trying to escape the blaze when she was overcome by fumes, Fida said.
Her companion, Jorge Rivas, 29, and a second man, Santo Trillero, 40, were burned. Rivas was in good condition, and Trillero was stable at Temple University Burn Center yesterday.
Investigators said Jorge Rivas was believed to be from Nicaragua, and officials were trying to learn the others' countries of origin, Fida said.
Fida said the blaze caused $7,000 worth of damage. The flames broke out at 3:45 a.m. and took about 20 minutes to control.
"It's really a shame," Fida said. "As firefighters, you look at the physical damage that took place and the life toll, and it's so out of whack."
Police and fire officials hampered by the language barrier scrambled Monday and Tuesday to recruit Spanish-speaking interpreters. Fida said a cousin of Jorge Rivas' who acted as interpreter helped authorities identify Obando Rivas.
At first, investigators thought the fire might have been set, but they ruled that out after a specially trained fire dog detected no accelerants at the site.
The fire forced the evacuation of 15 other Central American immigrants who occupied the house.
Ernestine Fobbs, a spokeswoman for the federal bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that two people were being held for hearings and that the others would have to appear before an immigration judge.
The fire focused attention on the number of occupants who can safely inhabit old homes in Horsham Township.
Jeff Clark, Horsham's code enforcement director, said the triplex was legal because the stone farmhouse was subdivided before the zoning code was passed.
Property owner Nicholas Braccia, a concrete contractor, was given five days to furnish a floor plan of the house so the township can calculate how many people can legally occupy the dwelling, Clark said.
The code requirement is 150 square feet for the first occupant and 100 square feet for each additional person.
Clark and Fida said officials would be more vigilant for overcrowded homes in the future.
"Clearly, this is under the microscope now," Fida said.
Distributed by the Associated Press
