SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Investigators examining the scene of a weekend house fire that killed two children said the home's smoke detector never warned family members of the impending danger.
Fire Marshal Perry Volden said the house had one smoke detector, but its battery was missing. The accidental fire appears to have started in a rice cooker near a stove, investigators said.
Killed in the fire were Jimmy Huynh, 8, and Pearl Wang, 5.
Neighbors said a Vietnamese family of eight _ a woman in her 50s, her two daughters and their children ages kindergarten to high school _ lived in the house.
Two other occupants of the home were hospitalized.
Neighbor Tim Hall was awakened shortly after 4 a.m. Saturday when one of the women beat on his door yelling her kids were in the house.
Hall said he rescued two kids who had crawled out of a second-story bedroom onto a porch roof. Three others were able to escape through the front door.
``The daughter was inside,'' he said. ``I tried going in, but the smoke was too intense.''
Fire rescue crews removed three people while searching the home.
