Aaron Goldback

This is Aaron Goldback in the WSYR Newsroom.

We're going to look at our top stories this hour.

Fire investigators believe they figured out what started a deadly fire at 141 Harlan Avenue.

Fire Chief Fred Plumpton says neighbors called 911 when they heard a crackling noise coming from the house.

Blumpton says when firefighters got there, they found a mother and her four children huddled together unconscious upstairs.

They were brought to University Hospital where 28-year-old Tanya Petway, her two-year-old twin sons Adrian and Alexander Jr., and her five-year-old daughter Brianna all died.

Another daughter, three-year-old Ashley, remains in critical condition.

Meanwhile, an elderly Syracuse man fighting for his life following a fire on Austin Avenue near the Bellevue Country Club.

Deputy Fire Chief George Hart says the man is also handicapped.

Actually 80 years old.

In an apartment.

His name is not yet being released.

And an 85-year-old Rochester man accused of shooting his wife of 53 years will get a court-ordered psychiatric exam.

David Smerling is charged with second-degree murder.

He's been held without bail at Rochester Psychiatric Center since Tuesday.

And I'm Aaron Brobeck, NewsRadio 570 WSYR.