Oxygen, smoking cause fatal fire in St. Paul

One man died early Saturday morning in a fire at his East Side St. Paul home. The fire at 1475 Old Hudson Road was reported by neighbors around 6 a.m., according to Steve Zaccard, spokesperson for the department.

Firefighters arrived at the house within minutes, and found smoke coming from the house, Zaccard said. In the course of a search for victims, they found the 54-year-old man sitting in an upholstered living room chair, unconscious.

"They rescued him from the building right away, but he had already died," Zaccard said.

Neighbors reported to investigators that he lived alone.

Zaccard said initial reports from the medical examiner show the man died from smoke inhalation. They believe the man was on oxygen and had been smoking, which appears to have started the fire.