Updated at 5:38 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The Lewis County coroner today said he has concluded the three children who died in the Centralia house fire last month died from smoke inhalation.
Benjamin D. Tower, 12; Madeline R. Tower, 10; and Samuel J. Tower, 7, never made it out of their upstairs bedrooms when fire broke out during the night on March 4 at the split-level home on Ham Hill Road, according to Coroner Warren McLeod.
[1]Ben, Maddy, Sam and Sue Tower
McLeod said asphyxiation from smoke and carbon monoxide blocked their breathing and it’s more likely than not they did not suffer.
Their manner of death is currently labeled undetermined, because McLeod has not not received the results of the investigation into cause of the fire itself.
A joint investigation into the cause of the blaze is being conducted by the Centralia Police Department and Riverside Fire Authority.
Their mother Sue Tower escaped to safety from her bedroom on the lower level of the home.
The Centralia Police Department indicated today they expect to complete their investigation within the next two weeks.
They will notify the family of the results and then hold a press conference, according to detective Patty Finch.