RALEIGH - Alcohol contributed to deaths of most of the South Carolina college students who perished in an October fire because they could not react quickly to the blaze that tore through their beach house, medical examiners said Thursday.

Dr. John Butts said in e-mail to The Associated Press on Thursday that it was "reasonable and logical" to consider that alcohol contributed to the deaths. Butts has said six of the seven had high alcohol levels, ranging from .16 to .29 percent. One student who died had no alcohol in her system.

Butts' comments came the same week that the autopsy report for one student, Cassidy Fae Pendley, said the 18-year-old died primarily from inhaling carbon monoxide in the blaze. Dr. Thomas B. Clark III, an associate state medical examiner, also wrote in that report that alcohol intoxication was a "significant contributing condition" in her death.

Pendley's report said her blood alcohol level was .18 percent, more than twice the legal limit of .08 for driving a car. It also was the first to say alcohol contributed to a death in the fire.

"Alcohol impairs judgment, slows reaction times, and affects coordination," Clark said in an e-mail message sent Thursday. "A person impaired by alcohol is at a significant disadvantage in a situation such as a house fire, when survival may depend on judgment, coordination, and speed."

Clark said although it is widely known that alcohol affects reaction time, it is important that people hear the message again.

Five other autopsy reports only noted the alcohol levels of the dead students and medical officials didn't discuss the role of alcohol. In November, Brunswick County District Attorney Rex Gore dismissed the suggestion that drinking contributed to the deaths because one victim had no alcohol in her system.

Gore didn't return a telephone message Thursday seeking comment.

Although investigators said the exact cause of the fire wasn't determined, they said they couldn't rule out improperly discarded smoking materials. Two autopsy reports say the fire was caused by a cigarette.

Survivors of the fire said smoke detectors woke them up in time "with only moments to escape" the smoke and flames that tore through the canal-front house at Ocean Isle Beach, the report said.

Six other students, including two who jumped from windows, survived the fire.