<!--Rick Pfeiffer--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Rick Pfeiffer</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:rick.pfeiffer@niagara-gazette.com">rick.pfeiffer@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>
A double-fatal fire may have been averted had smoke detectors in the home been working.
The blaze early Saturday morning in a home in the 700 block of Monteagle Ridge, took the lives of 34-year-old Tajuana Smith and her 10-year-old daughter, Kheyarra Williams.
“Smoke detectors were present in the home, but we believe they were not operational,” Falls Fire Chief William MacKay said on Monday.
Investigators said Smith’s youngest daughter escaped the flames but an effort to save her mother’s life may have claimed the life of Kheyarra Williams.
“We have received some information that both of the children may have exited the home,” MacKay said, “and the one may have gone back in to find her mom.”
MacKay said neighbors also tried to enter the burning home but were forced back by heavy smoke.
The fire was reported about 1:15 a.m. Saturday at 716 Monteagle St. and flames were shooting from second-floor windows as firefighters arrived on the scene. MacKay said the first engines were at the burning home within three minutes of the initial alarm.
Once the fire was brought under control, Smith and her daughter were found on the second floor.
Investigators are still attempting to determine the cause of the blaze.
“We now believe it originated in the kitchen,” MacKay said, “but we don’t have a definitive cause yet.”
MacKay said the cause could be known by later today.
The cause of death for Williams and her daughter has been listed as smoke inhalation and thermal injury.
The home was totally destroyed by the blaze.
