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SANDY -- Investigators believe a smoldering cigarette may have caused the fire that killed two women in their Sandy home Monday.
Police have identified the mother and daughter as 90-year-old Geneva Florence Lazzelle and 54-year-old Teree Lazzelle.
Firefighters were called to their home near 590 East and 9400 South at about 10:25 a.m. Sandy police Sgt. Troy Arnold said a caretaker -- Terree Lazzelle's ex-husband -- discovered the fire after he went to check on the women.
"He never entered the home due to the large amount of smoke," Arnold said.
Firefighters found Geneva Lazzelle alive upstairs. She was taken to a local hospital where she later did.
Downstairs, they found Terree Lazzelle's body. Arnold said they also found evidence that the fire may have been sparked by a cigarette.
Neighbors said the women were quite and kept to themselves.
"It's very tragic," neighbor Dennis Maughan said. "It's going to affect our whole neighborhood. They were good people, and it's a sad time for our neighborhood."
Maughan also said Terree Lazzelle had health problems and was trying to quit smoking.
"When my wife would go over and visit with them, occasionally she would see a burn mark on a lap quilt or a blanket, where she had dropped a cigarette."
There is little visible damage to the home's exterior, and some neighbors said they didn't even know the house was on fire until the fire department arrived. The fire itself had mostly extinguished itself before the first crews arrived.
Fire investigators believe the fire was accidental.
Geneva Lazzelle's other daughter also lives in the home. She was not there when the fire started.
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Story compiled with contributions from Marc Giauque,Sandra Yi and Paul Nelson.
