Mom, Daughter Die Of Smoke Inhalation After Middletown Fire

MIDDLETOWN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A mother and her adult daughter were found dead after a fire tore through their home in Middletown.

The fire broke out around 11 p.m. Tuesday in the home on Ideal Avenue.

The bodies of 53-year-old Diane Young and her 27-year-old daughter Jacqueline Young were found in an upstairs bedroom, CBS 2's Janelle Burrell reported.

Family members said Jacqueline Young made it out with her dog, but went back to save her mom. The two were found holding each other underneath an upstairs window.

Kim Carbone, a neighbor and close friend, brought two roses to the home Wednesday in memory as friends grappled with the tragic news.

"It's all a tragedy that the whole block is feeling now," Carbone said. "They were really good people, really nice people. It's very hard because we're close here. They were part of our family."

The charred debris and burned out windows marked the area where fire crews were called. They responded to the scene and found flames concentrated on the second floor of the residence.

Neighbors looked on, thinking that the two had made it out alive, only to find out later that they were trapped inside.

"Now to find out they were actually in the house when we were watching it burn. That's incredible," said neighbor Kathy Folio.

"I was sitting in my living room watching TV and I heard the sirens," one neighbor told 1010 WINS. "I came outside and saw fire coming out from the top window."

Diane Young, a postal worker, was being remembered Wednesday for her generosity and helping her neighbors who were affected by Hurricane Sandy.

"She was one of the few people to let us use their showers because she had hot water," said Vionet McCombs.

Jacqueline Young was a nanny for a local family.

"I knew the young lady that lived there. She was a friendly girl, always walking up and down the street with her dog," one man said. "It's a shame."

Both victims died of smoke inhalation, Charles Webster, spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, told 1010 WINS. The cause of the fire has been determined to be accidental, Webster said.

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