LOCAL : Cigarette Blamed as 3 Die in Fire

A South Los Angeles house fire sparked by a smoldering cigarette killed a man, his wife and their 8-year-old boy, and injured two other children who were overcome by smoke in their sleep, authorities said today.

The house, on the 700 block of West 138th Street, was not equipped with smoke detectors.

The surviving victims, a girl, 14, and a boy, 12, were in extremely critical condition, hospital officials said.

The five victims, who were not immediately identified, were carried out of their bedrooms by firefighters who entered the smoke-filled home, City Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said.