An East Toledo teenager was killed and his brother was critically injured early Saturday in a fire for which state officials were called in to assist local investigators.

Steve Kahle, a Lucas County coroner's investigator, said Joseph Fazenbaker, 14, was pronounced dead at 6:41 a.m. at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center. Mr. Kahle did not identify the second victim, who was taken to the University of Michigan Hospital, Ann Arbor, but others said it was Joseph's younger brother, Michael Rheinbolt.

A hospital spokesman said later Saturday that young Rheinbolt was in critical condition in the hospital's burn unit.

"Joseph was a good kid, never got in trouble, loved his family, and went to school," said Nina Laipply, who was at the scene and identified herself as the Fazenbaker boys' cousin.

The boys were believed to be alone at the time of the fire.

Fire crews were dispatched at 2:11 a.m. to the home at 253 Willard St., according to the Toledo Fire Department.

Lt. Matthew Hertzfeld, a department spokesman, said that when the first truck arrived four minutes later, a front porch, front wall, and front interior of the house were engulfed in flame.

A "major portion" of the fire was knocked down by crews within minutes of arrival, the lieutenant said, and the first of two victims was found at 2:24 a.m., with the second found two minutes later.

The charred home at 253 Willard St. in Toledo, where a fatal fire occurred overnight. The charred home at 253 Willard St. in Toledo, where a fatal fire occurred overnight.

Both were brought out and resuscitation efforts began before they were transported to the hospitals, Lieutenant Hertzfeld said.

The fire was extinguished within about 40 minutes, he said. The home, with extensive fire damage, was being boarded up during the afternoon.

The victims were found in separate upstairs bedrooms, the coroner's investigator said. There was no further information available about the surviving victim, he said.

Mary Lawson, 39. a neighbor said the boys lived at the house with their parents, whom she identified as Ruth and Gary. The adults, who were going to get married "in a few weeks," were attending an engagement party and weren't home at the time of the fire, she said.

"It's a tragedy," Ms. Lawson said, describing the family at 253 Willard as nice neighbors who kept to themselves.

The fire's cause remained under investigation later Saturday, said Lindsey Burnworth, a spokesman for the State Fire Marshal's Office. Authorities would not verify that the surviving victim is Michael Fazenbaker.

Lucas County land records list Ruth Rheinbolt as the owner of the two-story, wood-frame house built in 1917. No fire damage estimate was available.