SCOTCH PLAINS, N.J. (AP) - Authorities are investigating the cause of a house fire that claimed the lives of a 32-year-old mother and her 3-year-old son in Scotch Plains.
Firefighters had to force their way into the home on Church Avenue after neighbors reported smoke coming from the second floor on Tuesday night.
Police Chief Brian Mahoney tells The Star-Ledger the fire was extinguished within five minutes and the damage was confined to the second story of the duplex.
The woman and child were pronounced dead at a hospital. Their names have not been released.
Mahoney says the victims lived with another family member who was not injured.
The family's dog also died.
The Union County Prosecutor's Office is investigating whether the fire was suspicious.
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