ST. PAUL (WCCO) — A number of college students were able to escape from a house fire in St. Paul overnight. The fire happened just a block away from the house where a fire killed a student last winter.

According to the city fire department, crews were summoned to the 1800 block of Marshall Avenue. There, they found the porch on fire.

Crews said the fire didn’t spread due to calm winds. They managed to extinguish the blaze before it spread to the house’s interior.

All the residents made it out, though one had to be awakened and escorted out.

According to the fire department, the fire was sparked by a cigarette. The home’s residents said none of them smoked, but informed they had a group of people over the evening before.

This fire was about a block away from a house that caught fire last winter and killed a University of St. Thomas student.