St Paul fire investigators say an electric hot plate and a space heater caused yet another fatal garage fire overnight--this time in the city's North End --the homeowner telling investigators he had allowed an unsheltered person to access his garage to stay warm.
It's the third garage fire death in the city within two months. St. Paul averages two to three fire fatalities a year.
Crews were called to a report of a detached garage in the 1400 block of Mayre Street. After the flames were doused, firefighters found a deceased victim. The remains have been turned over to the St. Paul Medical Examiner's office for cause of death and identification of the victim.
Assistant Fire Chief Jamie Smith says preventable fire deaths like these take a toll on the men and women called to the scene.
"It's the hardest part of our job, knowing that we weren't able to be there in time, or we weren't able to make a difference in somebody's life on this particular day or in these particular instances," says Smith.
Earlier this month two people were found dead following another garage fire started by a space heater. The victims were believed to have been living there.
"One of the main reasons that garages are not safe is because they lack the fire prevention and safety measures that are needed for living structures, namely, they're lacking smoke and CO detector," Smith explains. "They're lacking the fire prevention and the fire rated walls and doors to keep the smoke at bay."