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There has been a tragic fire in a rowhous on Elgin Avenue last night in Centerville.

The fire broke out about 11:15 last night in the bottom floor of the rowhouse at 1121 Elgin Avenue. It quickly spread to the second floor where three people were sleeping.

Neighbors saw the flams and called the fire department, which arrived at about a quarter to twelve. It took fire fighters about a half an hour to fully put out all the flames.

Fire Marshal Jack Peterson said the three people sleeping upstairs were a mother and her two children. The three were rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital sufering from burns and smoke inhalation.

Peterson says it appears the fire was started by an acelerant on the house's ground floor. Neighbors told investigators they saw a man runing from the house shortly before the fire started. They said he appeared to be carrying a gas can.

Lieutenant Fred Riesendorf of the Centerville police said officers are looking for Peter Clausen, the estranged boyfriend of Joanne Lipson, the woman who lived in the house, to question him about the blaze. Riesendorf said Lipson had kicked Clausen out of the house a month ago and had gone to court to obtain a restraning order against him.

Elise Hansen, a spokes woman at St. Joseph's, confirmed that Joanne Lipson, 33, and her two children were brought to the hospital for treatment. Hansen wouldn't releas the names of the children. She said Lipson and her 5-year-old daughter died of severe burns in the fire and that her 3-year-old son was listed in critical condition.