Authorities: Smoke inhalation likely killed 2 women, 11-month-old girl in Bad Axe fire

Authorities say preliminary autopsy results indicate two 23-year-old women and an 11-month-old girl found in a burning Michigan apartment likely died of smoke inhalation.

Bad Axe police Chief David Rothe tells the Huron Daily Tribune his department is awaiting a state police fire marshal's report on the cause of last Wednesday's fire about 100 miles north of Detroit.

Authorities say police and fire officials responding to the blaze saw smoke and could hear the sound of a smoke detector. Bad Axe Area Fire Department Chief David Peruski says the smoke detector was found in a drawer in the kitchen instead of its proper place on a wall or ceiling.

The women were identified as Audrey L. Hogan and Melissa M. Perkins, and the girl as Perkins' daughter Abrecona Perkins.