St. Paul ties 30-year-old fire fatality record
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The St. Paul Fire Department says the city has tied a grim record set 30 years ago.
Officials say they were notified Thursday that a resident who was injured in a fire on Feb. 18 has died.
This death is the city's seventh fire-related fatality of the year, matching the record set in 1994.
MORE NEWS: Fire damages Magnolias Restaurant in St. Paul
SPFD says on Feb. 18, crews were called to a high-rise building down the block from Regions Hospital on University Avenue East on a report of someone trapped inside a burning apartment.
The building's sprinkler system had already extinguished the small fire by the time crews arrived, but officials say firefighters discovered "numerous oxygen cylinders for medical use along with evidence that the victim had been smoking while using oxygen." A dog was rescued from the apartment but wasn't hurt.
SPFD says unattended cooking is the leading cause of all fires, which was the source of the city's fifth deadly fire of the year on Jan. 27 in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood.
While cooking is tied to most fires, smoking is the leading cause of all deadly fires, according to SPFD. The city's sixth fatal fire of the year was also connected to smoking, leading to the death of a woman and two dogs on Feb. 8 in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood.
RELATED: 4 children dead after St. Paul house fire; 2 others and mother still in critical condition
A fire on Jan. 3 inside a family's home in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood led to the deaths of four young siblings. The children's mother and her 6-year-old son are still recovering at Regions Hospital. Investigators believe a candle started that blaze.
SPFD says the city averages about two to three deadly fires per year.
