2 Kids, 1 Adult Die After Fire Breaks Out At West Orange Home

WEST ORANGE, NJ -- Three people, including two children, died after a fire broke out at a home in West Orange on Saturday, authorities said.

The West Orange Fire Department responded to a home on Liberty Street around 11 a.m., finding a small fire in the kitchen area and heavy smoke throughout the home, according to a statement from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office and the West Orange Fire Department.

Firefighters located three unresponsive victims, an adult and two children, and removed them from the home. First responders rendered aid, but all three were pronounced dead at the scene.

The identities of the victims are being withheld pending formal identification and notification of their next of kin, authorities said.

Detectives from the Prosecutor’s Crime Scene Investigations Bureau and the West Orange Police Department are investigating the cause and origin of the fire. The cause and manner of death will be determined by autopsies conducted by the NJ Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office, authorities said.

No additional information was immediately available.

Saturday's incident is the second fatal fire that has taken place in West Orange in three months. In May, a fire at a townhouse on Northfield Avenue killed two people and left others without a home. See Related: 2 Die In Fatal Fire At West Orange Townhouse

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