CANDLER, N.C. - Authorities say 22 people living in a house for migrant workers in western North Carolina escaped a fire that appears to have started on a back porch.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reported the fire began early Tuesday in the split-level home in Candler. Authorities say they haven't found a smoke detector.

Investigator Jeff Tracz with the Asheville-Buncombe Arson Task Force says the residents are migrant workers who pick produce at farms. Authorities say the house is a total loss and the residents lost all their belongings.

Tracz says all the adults he checked with have Florida driver's licenses and apparently work for a company in that state. He's trying to contact the owner of the property, who lives in South Carolina, to find out if it's insured.

The American Red Cross is helping the workers.
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Information from: The Asheville Citizen-Times, http://www.citizen-times.com

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