A fire that killed two children and displaced nearly two dozen people in New Jersey in April may have been sparked by a discarded cigarette, according to officials investigating its cause.
The blaze erupted late on April 10 on the 300 block of South 4th Street in Millville, N.J., about 45 miles south of Philadelphia.
Two girls, 13-year-old Valery Mariana Cardona Gomez and her sister, Gissel Samanta “Sammy” Cardona Gomez, died in the massive fire, which destroyed several homes and left 23 people without a home, the CW affiliate in Philadelphia, WPHL, reported at the time.
The fire lasted about five hours and was only extinguished after spreading to six neighboring homes, causing two of them to collapse.
Police and fire investigation reports obtained by NJ Advance Media determined the fire began on the front porch of the residence where the Gomez sisters lived.
While the cause of the fire couldn’t be conclusively determined, authorities said flames may have been ignited by smoking materials that weren’t properly discarded.
According to the report, surveillance video footage showed small amounts of smoke on the porch earlier that day.
The father of the two victims reportedly told authorities that he and his wife were smoking near the area where the fire began hours before the blaze, police said in the report — but he noted the cigarettes had been properly discarded.
In May, an attorney for the family said his clients plan to file a lawsuit over the girls’ deaths and injuries to their father. Court documents list the City of Millville, utility companies, and a property owner as potential defendants, NJ.com reported.
