Girl, 17, among 8 victims in New Orleans fire

NEW ORLEANS – A 17-year-old girl and three other young adults were among the eight people who died in a warehouse fire on a freezing night in New Orleans.

The city coroner's office released the identities of four of the victims on Friday, three days after the blaze destroyed the abandoned warehouse where they were trying to keep warm.

They were 20-year-old Jonathan Guerrero from Texas; 17-year-old Melissa Martinez from Scotts Valley, Calif.; 22-year-old Jeffrey Geerts from Abbotsford, Wis.; and 21-year-old Katie Simianer from Alliance, Neb.

The coroner said the four died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Firefighters said earlier this week that the victims had set a fire inside the building to stay warm and that carbon monoxide fumes likely rendered them unconscious.