Deaths of husband and wife in Arlington Heights fire ruled accidental
The Cook County medical examiner's office Friday ruled the deaths of an Arlington Heights couple in a Thursday morning fire to be accidental, though investigators were still probing the cause of the blaze itself.
Following autopsies conducted Friday, the medical examiner's office said Lew Smith, 75, and wife Joan, 72, died of burns and smoke inhalation. The fire broke out shortly after 8 a.m. in their split-level house on the 1900 block of Spruce Terrace.
With a joint investigation still ongoing by the Arlington Heights Fire Department, Arlington Heights Police Department and the state fire marshal's office, authorities on Friday were not prepared to announce what caused the fire. Preliminary evidence suggests it started in the kitchen.
Police Cmdr. Joe Pinnello, who is leading the investigation from the police side, said there is no indication of foul play.
The blaze marked the third deadly residential fire in the Northwest suburbs in a little more than a week. On Jan. 27, a Des Plaines mother and four daughters ages 6 and younger died in an apartment fire blamed on a space heater. And an Inverness couple were found dead Sunday after one of them set fire to their home, authorities said.
Funeral arrangements for the Smiths, longtime members of Congregation Beth Judea in Long Grove, were still being finalized Friday.
Members of the synagogue that numbers some 470 families were still coping with the news as weekend services began.
"No words can adequately speak to the magnitude of the sadness, shock, and pain that many of us are experiencing," Rabbi Morris Zimbalist wrote in a message to the congregation.
Members of the Lake County Board Friday morning held a moment of silence for the Smiths. Board member Marah Altenberg of Buffalo Grove knew the couple from attending services at Congregation Beth Judea and asked for the brief moment to honor them.
"They were extremely involved in our synagogue for more than 20 years. They were just lovely people," she said.
• Daily Herald staff writer Mick Zawislak contributed to this report.