Portsmouth fire victims identified

Officials in Portsmouth have released the names of the four victims who died in a house fire early Friday morning.

Colby Lynch, 41, and Sandi Schalit, 53, of Portsmouth, and Lea Ann Woods, 53, and juvenile Meyleigh Snipes of Westerville, Ohio, were found inside the smoke-damaged home in the city’s downtown, Fire Chief Bill Raison said. The four were taken to Southern Ohio Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.

Investigators are still trying to determine what started the fire. A spokesman for the state fire marshal said investigators determined that the fire started on the first floor of the two-story, single-family home.

The house had no working smoke detector, spokesman Matt Mullins said.

Police officers patrolling the city's east end said they smelled the smoke.

“They could smell it but couldn't see it, couldn't tell where it was coming from,” Raison said. “At some point during the course of that, the fire actually broke out a window of the house. And then, they called and notified us.”