1 Dead In St. Paul Fire

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- One person is dead after a fire at a home in St. Paul.

Firefighters responded around 4:30 a.m. Sunday to the fire on Glendale Street. When they arrived, they found flames on one side of a row of townhouses.

Flames extended up to the second floor and the roof of the building, destroying two units of the 11-unit building.

Authorities found the victim on the first floor of the home. A smoke detector was found in a closet, likely by the resident.

"The apartment was fully involved there," said St. Paul Fire Chief Tim Butler. "So it was a lot of thermal damage inside. A lot of smoke damage. He was found sitting on the floor."

Fire Marshall Steve Zaccard said he fire started on an end unit and thankfully, they were able to knock it down quickly.

"Even though it's brick on the outside, it's wood on the inside. The brick is just the veneer," he said. "It had a lot of fuel to burn and it was burning badly when we got the call."

The victim's identity has not yet been released. Officials say it was a 30-year-old man. Zaccard said it's a good reminder to everyone not to tamper with smoke or carbon monoxide detectors -- you double your chances of survival by having a detector and it should be tested monthly.

No one else was hurt in the fire, which did not spread to all of the townhouses. Residents have been let back inside.

This is the first fatal fire of the year in St. Paul.