1 Dead Following St. Paul Apartment Fire

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- One person is dead after an apartment fire Monday night in St. Paul.

The St. Paul Fire Department responded around 9:23 p.m. to a report of an apartment fire from the fourth floor on the 200 block of Western Avenue North. After crews contained and put out the fire, a man was found in the apartment, said the report.

Fire officials say the man was brought to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries Tuesday afternoon, according to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office.

He was identified on Thursday as 55-year-old Frederick Zimmerman.

Crews also found a cat and pronounced it dead on the scene. Authorities say the initial investigation points to cigarettes as the cause of the fire.