Officials: Smoking Materials Caused Oakdale Fire
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Officials said Friday a town home fire that took the life of a Stillwater elementary school teacher last week was caused by smoking materials.
Crews were called to 7000 block of 19th Street in Oakdale just before 5 a.m. on March 19 on a report of a fire. When authorities arrived, smoke was coming from the east window of the town home. Authorities entered the residence and found the body of a 65-year-old woman.
Authorities later identified the victim as Catherine Weschcke. Nobody else was inside the home when the fire started and no other injuries were reported. Weschcke was a beloved teacher in the Stillwater School District at Rutherford Elementary School for years, but had been on leave for the year. She was a math interventionist who taught fifth and sixth grade.
