DUNMORE, Pa. — A team of investigators was back at the scene of a deadly fire in Lackawanna County on Wednesday. The fire that started Monday night killed a mother and her two young children and injured four others.
A large team of investigators has been at the apartment home along Wheeler Avenue all day working to determine what caused the fire that killed Ebony Thompson, her 5-year-old daughter London Session, and 2-year-old daughter Tiara Session.
Investigators did not have much information to share other than this is still a very active investigation, and we saw a lot of activity at the fire scene.
Fire marshals from the state police and the City of Scranton's fire inspector were joined by agents from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
Officials tell us the agents were there to assist them in their investigation. They said they believe the fire started in a second-floor apartment that was unoccupied at the time of the fire.
They are still trying to pinpoint exactly where in the apartment it started and how it started.
Prosecutors from the Lackawanna County district attorney's office were at the scene throughout the day as well.
At one point, fire investigators moved from Wheeler Avenue to a second fire scene about a half-mile away. State police say a vehicle caught fire here behind Smith Street in Dunmore. They believe this fire is unrelated to the Wheeler Avenue fire but happened within hours of the deadly fire. Investigators say this fire is suspicious. We saw an accelerant-detecting dog on the scene. The fire inspector says the dog indicated that a petroleum product may have been used to set the fire.
Investigators say they have no reason to believe that those two fires are related. Both are open investigations.
Police say this part of Wheeler Avenue in front of the deadly fire scene is going to remain closed to traffic for at least another day while the investigation continues.