Fatal Fire Ruled Accidental
The Bucks County Coroner’s office has ruled that two people found dead Monday after a Hilltown fire died of smoke and soot inhalation.
The bodies of 83-year-old James Belancourt and 74-year-old Katherine Miller were found in a home they shared on Middle Road between Fretz and Bypass Roads. Miller’s 53-year-old son, Ed Miller, escaped through a second-floor window and climbed down a ladder. The Bucks County Fire Investigation Task Force has ruled the fire accidental, caused by a smoldering cigarette that ignited on a small porch and spread into the kitchen.
