Eastpointe fire kills woman, appears to be accident

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An overnight fire in an Eastpointe house killed a 68-year-old woman.

Marcia Jagoda says she wants people to remember her cousin, Christine Rymal as a kind and loving person.

Rymal died after a fire broke out in her Eastpointe home on Lexington around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday

"It was sad," Jagoda said. "I'm close to the church.. All I could do was pray."

Jagoda went to her cousin's house to leave one of Rymal's favorite toys as a way to honor her memory.

"I just came by to give her a little Mickey Mouse cause she liked him."

Jagoda says she was her cousin's caregiver until caring for her became too much of a challenge.

"After her husband Paul died went into depression and her mind snapped and she was making threats that she was going to harm people,"

Family members say Rymal did not have a smoke detector inside this home.

"I hope she went in peace and God took her peacefully,"

The cause of the fire is still not known but investigators believe smoking could be a factor.

"It appears to be accidental per family the victim was a heavy smoker," said Eastpointe Fire Chief Larry Folkerts. "She also liked to use candles. The room of origin looks to be like where she like to sit with candles and smoke cigarettes."

Investigators say this is the second deadly fire they have responded to in less than two weeks.

Earlier this month two sisters were killed after a fire broke out at their Eastpointe home.

Fire officials say they hope others will learn from these tragedies.

"You need to check your smoke detector, test them and change batteries regularly," said Folkerts.