Two people were killed as the result of a fire in an apartment building in Burlington, Vermont, early Saturday.
Firefighters responded to reports of a fire around 5:14 a.m. at 199 King St., a six-unit, three-story complex. Two men in separate apartments — 31-year-old Michael Loyer and 55-year-old Henry Burawa — were found unconscious, Burlington police said.
One of them was transported to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. Ultimately, neither victim survived, officials said.
The fire was started when one person fell asleep while smoking, Burlington Fire Chief Steven Locke said in a statement Saturday afternoon.
One occupant of the building had already exited seeking medical treatment when firefighters arrived, according to fire officials.
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The fire, which stretched to the second and third floors of the building, required three alarms before it was extinguished, officials said. A total of 46 firefighters responded.
An investigation has thus far determined the building did not have automatic fire sprinklers or a monitored fire alarm. However, several smoke alarms were found within individual apartments.
The origin and cause of the fire remain under investigation.
Two apartments sustained significant damage, officials said, while the others had both smoke and water damage.
One firefighter suffered minor injuries battling the blaze, officials said.
