Ornamental candles burning in a bedroom are believed to have started a fire in which a man died.
The 54-year-old was overcome by smoke after trying to tackle a blaze in the bedroom of a house in the border village of Bessbrook, Co Armagh, last night, the Fire and Rescue Service said.
The man's elderly mother and brother escaped from the fire in the mid-terrace house at College Square.
Firefighters using breathing apparatus entered the smoke-filled house and carried the man from the first-floor bedroom but despite the efforts of paramedics, he died soon afterwards at the scene.
Alan Fulford, group commander for the Fire and Rescue Service in Portadown, said it appeared the victim spotted the fire in the bedroom as he returned to the house after a walk and ran upstairs to try to put it out.
Mr Fulford said: "It looks like there were candles alight in the bedroom and that they set fire to coats hanging on the back of the bedroom door.
"The man had gone upstairs to fight the fire but was overcome by the smoke."
He said there was a smoke alarm in the house but no battery in it.