Elderly Sisters Die in Fire Blamed on Smoking

Two elderly sisters, one of them the widow of a Burbank firefighter, died early Friday in a smoldering blaze that investigators blamed on careless smoking.

It was the second time since Sunday that firefighters had been called to the tidy, pink stucco house in the 2800 block of North Buena Vista Street to extinguish a blaze caused by a cigarette, neighbors and fire officials said.

In the first fire, the older of the two sisters was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center for treatment of burns and released. Burbank Fire Capt. Steve Patterson said a smoldering cigarette also was believed to have caused the second blaze, which started about 12:30 a.m.

Neighbors said the sisters, who were in their 70s and in declining health, were beloved fixtures in the neighborhood. Both were chain-smokers, they said. The victims’ names were withheld until relatives could be notified.

“They were loved by all of us,” next-door neighbor Dee Dee Sincomb said. “They were just wonderful neighbors--sweet, loving, very concerned all the time with all of us.”

One woman died at the scene, and the other was pronounced dead at St. Joseph Medical Center.