Eighty-three-year-old James Betancourt and 74-year-old Katherine Miller died in the fire Monday in Hilltown Township, Bucks County. Miller's son survived by climbing out a window.
Ed Miller told the Bucks County Courier Times he tried to reach his mother but was overcome by smoke and had to get out.
Hilltown police Chief Christopher Engelhart told KYW-AM the piled-up belongings made it hard for firefighters to battle the blaze and fueled the flames.
Authorities say the fire appears to have been started by a cigarette left on the home's porch.