Fatal fire’s cause undetermined

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January 6, 2010

By TED POTTS The Tribune-Democrat Wed Jan 06, 2010, 10:59 PM EST

JOHNSTOWN — The cause of a fire in December in Johnstown’s 8th Ward that claimed the lives of three people has been ruled undetermined, Cambria County Coroner Dennis Kwiatkowski said Wednesday.

Foul play has been ruled out, he said.

The fire broke out early on Dec. 14 inside a two-story frame home at 149 Skelly St. on the hill behind Memorial Medical Center.

It claimed the lives of Jeanne Hooter, 49; her boyfriend, Hamilton Pringle, 50; and Jeanne Hooter’s daughter, Brittany Hooter, 19. Jeanne Hooter’s son, Kirk, 17, escaped the blaze.

Kwiatkowski said Joseph Huber, a state police fire marshal from Ebensburg, thinks the blaze was accidental but could find no definitive evidence to prove that.

Kwiatkowski has ruled the three deaths accidental.

He said the investigation was conducted by city firefighters and detectives along with state police fire marshals and the coroner’s office.

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