City of Madison fire investigators on Tuesday said discarded smoking materials caused the fatal blaze that killed a 23-year-old man in a Downtown house on Nov. 18.
Peter J. Talen, a former UW-La Crosse student, was unable to get out of the burning house at 123 N. Bedford St. and was found dead by firefighters near a couch in the living room next to the front porch. He had been visiting his brother, Andrew Talen, a UW-Madison student who lived at the house with four other students. Three house occupants were injured during the fire.