Authorities: Cooking likely caused fire that killed 3 in S. St. Paul

A house fire that killed two young boys and their father two weeks ago in South St. Paul was accidental and likely caused by cooking in an attached garage, fire investigators said Monday.

Soeun Sem, 60, the father who died in the fire, was known to prepare food in the garage and "propane cooking equipment was found in the area where the fire originated," the South Metro Fire Department said in a Facebook post.

The overhead garage door and doors between the garage and the house were open at the time of the fire and likely contributed to the rapid spread of smoke and fire from the garage to the living area of the house in the 300 block of 11th Avenue South in South St. Paul, officials said. The children's mother was at work when the fire broke out.

Medical examiners determined all three victims died as a result of smoke inhalation.

"While there were working smoke detectors in the home at the time of the fire, it is probable that thick smoke and high heat conditions prevented the escape of all three victims from the second story of the home," according to the South Metro Fire Department.