Minneapolis fire where two found dead apparently accidental

Minneapolis officials say a fire in a home where two people were found dead late Tuesday appears to be accidental.

When the fire department was called to a single-story home on the 2900 block of Washburn Avenue North, firefighters found a fire in the living room. After extinguishing it, they found two people dead in a nearby bedroom.

Officials have not identified the two people, and their cause of death has not been released.

Investigators suspect smoking materials on a love seat in the living room may have caught fire, but haven't ruled out an electrical malfunction, fire spokeswoman Cherie Penn said.

The fire was the third involving multiple fatalities in Minneapolis this year. A fire killed three people on New Year's Day and a duplex fire killed five children on Feb. 14.