By Jim Brumm

WILMINGTON, N.C., Nov 2 (Reuters) - Smoking could have caused a beach house fire that killed seven college students, a preliminary report by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said on Friday.

The fire started on Sunday on the back deck of the beach home where 13 South Carolina college students were enjoying the last good beach weather of the season, according to the bureau's report released by the town of Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina.

The investigation "could not rule out improperly discarded smoking materials" as a cause, it said.

The two-story home, built one story off the ground to reduce the possibility of storm damage, was owned by the family of one of the students.

Fire alarms in the beach house were activated, " according to survivors and witnesses, said the report. A final report will be issued in several weeks.

The small town of Ocean Isle Beach is located on a seven-mile (11 km) long barrier beach on the southern end of North Carolina's Atlantic shore, about 30 miles (48 km) north of the resort community of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

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