Woman dead after fire in boarded-up D.C. rowhouse

A D.C. fire department official says a woman has died after she was found in a burning vacant rowhouse.

D.C. Fire and EMS Spokesman Pete Piringer says investigators believe improperly disposed smoking materials started in the boarded-up rowhouse about 9 p.m. Monday on Kennedy Street Northwest.

Mr. Piringer says firefighters found the woman, who was in her early 30s, in the basement, and she was taken to a burn center, where she later died. The woman has not been identified.

He says the cause of her death has not been determined, but she might have suffered from smoke inhalation.

Mr. Piringer says it appears many people have regularly used the rowhouse as a temporary shelter. He says the death brings the number of people to die in a fire in Washington this year to 19.