Man Charged With Death Of Mom, Companion In House Fire: Cops

A 59-year-old man has been charged with causing a house fire that killed two people in South Jersey earlier this week, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Pemberton Township Police Chief David H. Jantas announced.

Kurt Smith, who lived at the home in the 500 block of Willow Boulevard in the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township, was charged with two counts of first-degree aggravated manslaughter and one count of third-degree arson, authorities announced.

Smith’s mother, 92-year-old Lore Smith, was killed in the fire. She was pronounced dead Tuesday night after being taken to Lourdes Emergency Department at Deborah Hospital in Pemberton Township.

Her companion, 92-year-old George Pikunis, was pronounced dead at the scene. Autopsies performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood concluded the cause of death in each instance was smoke and soot inhalation, along with thermal burns.

Kurt Smith was taken to Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia and placed on a ventilator due to complications from smoke inhalation. He was served while hospitalized, and was scheduled to taken into custody by Philadelphia authorities upon his release. An extradition proceeding will then be held to authorize his return to New Jersey. This is the first time authorities have identified Kurt Smith and Pikunis.

Kurt Smith was in the garage with two other people at about 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday night, Oct. 16, when he recklessly lit a flammable material with a cigarette lighter, according to authorities.

He unsuccessfully tried to extinguish the blaze, which quickly spread once the garage door was opened. He unsuccessfully tried to extinguish the blaze, which quickly spread once the garage door was opened, authorities said.

The two people in the garage with Kurt Smith at the time were not the same two people who were killed, according to authorities. Those two people have not been identified.

See related: 2 Family Members Killed In South Jersey House Fire: Police

The attached image of Kurt Smith was provided by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office