Suffolk County investigators say a house fire that killed a mother and her three children was accidental and started in the living room of the single-story home.
Police did not say in a news release Saturday what started the fire at the eastern Long Island residence.
Police said the Suffolk County medical examiner determined the cause of the deaths was a combination of smoke inhalation and burns.
The Oct. 11 fire at the Shirley residence took the lives of 41-year-old Jennifer McCusker; 7-year-old Aidan Tarbell; and 2-year-old twins Brendan and Ava Jane Mistretta. Police say the mother was found holding one of the twins in a bedroom. She apparently had tried to grab the children and carry them from the house.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
