Cause of Schuyler Street Fire Ruled Accidential

Utica, NY (WIBX) - The cause of last month's deadly fire on Schuyler Street in Utica has been ruled accidential.

Utica Chief Fire Marshal Raymond Beck says the fire started in a room centrally located in the first-floor apartment.

Beck says forensic engineers from Forensic & Failure Analysis of Syracuse examined electrical components taken from the building and determined the fire was caused by a reptile heating lamp attached to an aquarium.

He says without the analysis, fire investigators would not have been able to eliminate or confirm the electrical component as the cause of the fire.

Leida Santiago, 32, and her three young children were killed in the May 9th blaze.