Authorities say the man whose cigarette ignited the Jersey Shore motel fire that killed four people in March had opiates in his system.
The cigarette was discarded in a stuffed chair along a wall of the smoking area at the Mariner's Cove Motor Inn in Point Pleasant, investigators determined after recovering video from the motel's surveillance system.
The Ocean County prosecutor said in a final report on the fire Wednesday that the cause is ruled accidental and that the man who started it won't be charged. Investigators also found that the motel was in full compliance with all codes and had working smoke detectors.
Autopsies on the four victims killed in the fire concluded they each died of smoke inhalation.
Eight others were injured in the fire, some critically.
The hotel has a capacity of about 100 people, and was believed to have been occupied by about 40 guests at the time, including some people who were previously displaced by Sandy.
