(Medina) - The Division of State Fire Marshal has ruled that Monday’s fatal fire in Medina was an accident.

Although no lighter or matches were found at the point of origin, one of the children admitted to fire investigators that he lit a cigarette from a candle and then took the lit cigarette to his closet where the fire started. This information is consistent with evidence that fire investigators found at the scene during their in-depth scene analysis.

While the cause has been determined, the investigation is continuing.

A seven-year-old boy died in the duplex shortly after midnight Monday at 223 W. Smith Road, just a few blocks from downtown Medina.

Medina 2nd Assistant Fire Chief and Fire Marshall Mark Crumley says the boy's mother and four other siblings all escaped from the burning upper half of their duplex, as did a family in the lower half of the duplex. A police sergeant who went in after the deceased child, and the survivors, were treated and released from Medina Hospital. 

The second floor was heavily damaged by fire and the first floor sustained water damage. 

Crumley says the portion of the duplex where the family lived had a smoke detector on the ceiling, but no working battery. 

This is the 94th fire fatality in Ohio this year. There were 184 fire fatalities in Ohio in 2008.

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