St. Paul house fire kills woman, 2 dogs
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Fire investigators say smoking likely led to a fire that killed a woman and two dogs in St. Paul overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning.
The St. Paul Fire Department says a 911 caller initially reported a "suspicious person" on Buford Avenue near Grantham Street, located a few blocks west of the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus.
Police were the first to arrive just before midnight. Officers noticed heavy smoke and heat coming from the home but they weren't able to get inside.
"A huge, huge shock. I mean, an hour ago getting a call about it, nobody had any idea until then," the victim's brother-in-law Dennis Ruud said.
Ruud stopped by his brother's home in St. Anthony Park to try to retrieve his glasses to bring to him in the hospital. He said his brother, Tom, is recovering from burns at Regions Hospital after the fire claimed the lives of his beloved wife, Sylvia, and their two dogs.
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"Very philosophy oriented and cooking, and reading. She was a constant reader her entire life and exceedingly intelligent but in a period of decline, very much so," Ruud said of Sylvia.
He said the couple, in their late 70s, lived in their home for more than 30 years.
"Good neighbors," Claudia Weilgorecki recalled.
Her son-in-law was the one who called 911 around midnight.
"Getting ready to go to bed and my son-in-law who lives across the alley actually heard, 'Help me, help me,' and called it in," she said.
When firefighters arrived, Tom was safely outside. Sylvia and their two dogs didn't make it out.
"He would walk his two dogs every day, twice a day and you'd wave and say hi," Wielgorecki said.
Investigators said they didn't find any working smoke detectors near where the fire started and believe smoking was the cause.
This is the sixth fatality so far this year, which is one fatality short of the record set in 1994. On average, the city has two or three annually.
"She was a beautiful, beautiful person, Sylvia," Ruud said.
The St. Paul Fire Department cites smoking as the leading cause of deadly fires across the state of Minnesota.
The State Fire Marshal's Office and the Ramsey County medical examiner are assisting in the investigation.