SODUS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) – Authorities say a fire that killed five children and their mother at a Michigan motel appears to have been an accident.
The Berrien County sheriff’s office says experts found no evidence of an accelerant that would have started the deadly blaze early Saturday at the Cosmo Extended Stay Motel in Sodus (SO’-dis) Township. The precise cause still is under investigation.
The fire began in a first-floor room of the two-story motel, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Chicago. Twenty-six-year-old Kiarre Curtis and five of her children died in a room on the second floor, likely from smoke inhalation. Autopsies are planned Sunday.
Officials investigate at a fire at the Cosmo Extended Stay Motel in Sodus Township, Mich., on Saturday, July 28, 2018. A fire swept through the southwestern Michigan motel early Saturday, killing several members of the same family, including a woman and her children, authorities said. (Michael Caterina/South Bend Tribune via AP)
Curtis’ husband and a 1-year-old child survived.
The sheriff’s office says investigators are also examining the motel’s fire alarms and smoke detectors.
Hotel residents gather as firefighters investigate a fire at the Cosmo Extended Stay Motel in Sodus Township, Mich., on Saturday, July 28, 2018. A fire swept through the southwestern Michigan motel early Saturday, killing several members of the same family, including a woman and her children, authorities said. (Michael Caterina/South Bend Tribune via AP)
A Michigan State Police fire investigator walks past apartments damaged by a fire Saturday, July 28, 2018, at the Cosmo Extended Living Motel, in Sodus Township, Mich., that claimed the lives of a 26-year-old mother and five of her children. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
Berrien County Sheriff Deputies walk past the scene of a fire Saturday, July 28, 2018, at the Cosmo Extended Living Motel, in Sodus Township, Mich., that claimed the lives of a 26-year-old mother and five of her children. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
A firefighter walks past apartments damaged by a fire Saturday, July 28, 2018, at the Cosmo Extended Living Motel, in Sodus Township, Mich., that claimed the lives of a 26-year-old mother and five of her children. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
Firefighters take a break after responding to a fire Saturday, July 28, 2018, at the Cosmo Extended Living Motel, in Sodus Township, Mich., that claimed the lives of a 26-year-old mother and five of her children. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
Crews investigate a fire Saturday, July 28, 2018, at the Cosmo Extended Living Motel, in Sodus Township, Mich., that claimed the lives of a 26-year-old mother and her five children. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
Darcia Knutson reacts after talking about her friend, Kiarre Samuel, the 26-year-old mother, and her five children who died in a fire early Saturday, July 28, 2018, at the Cosmo Extended Living Motel, in Sodus Township, Mich. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
Hotel residents Cassundra Clements, left, and Sarah Sanders comfort one another after a fire at the Cosmo Extended Stay Motel in Sodus Township, Mich., on Saturday, July 28, 2018. A fire swept through the southwestern Michigan motel early Saturday, killing several members of the same family, including a woman and her children, authorities said. (Michael Caterina/South Bend Tribune via AP)
Berrien County Sheriff’s Detective Cathy Easton takes notes at the scene of a fire at the Cosmo Extended Stay Motel in Sodus Township, Mich., on Saturday, July 28, 2018. A fire swept through the southwestern Michigan motel early Saturday, killing several members of the same family, including a woman and her children, authorities said. (Michael Caterina/South Bend Tribune via AP)
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