Overnight fire at St. Paul townhome kills 1 man

A St. Paul townhome fire has left one man dead.

Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard says a passerby and a tenant on the second floor of the two-story townhome reported the fire shortly before 4:30 a.m. Sunday. He says the tenant reported flames were coming out of the first-story windows.

According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Zaccard says the victim, who lived on the first floor, was already dead when crews arrived, but firefighters were able prevent the flames from spreading to the second floor. Nobody else was injured.

He says two of the 11 units are uninhabitable, but most tenants were able to return to their units after about an hour and a half.

The cause is under investigation.

It was St. Paul's first fatal fire of 2014.

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