Authorities say an early morning explosion and subsequent fire leveled a house in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota, killing one person
By means ofMARGERY A. BECK Associated Press
November 30, 2023, 11:30 AM
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire after a house exploded, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, in South St. Paul, Minnesota (Leila Navidi/Star Tribune via AP)
The Associated Press
An explosion and subsequent fire destroyed a home in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota, early Thursday, killing at least one person, a fire official said.
The explosion happened just after 6:15 a.m. in South St. Paul, said Mark Juelfs, chief of the South Metro Fire Department. Firefighters arrived within minutes and quickly extinguished the flames, Juelfs said. An initial search of the demolished house revealed that one person was dead in the garage.
Authorities have not yet identified the person and do not yet know if there were other people in the home, Juelfs said. “We cannot confirm whether there are any more victims until we have cleared a large part of the rubble,” he said.
Fire officials are working with local police and public works officials to determine the cause of the explosion, Juelfs said.
South St. Paul is a city of about 21,000 residents located about eight miles south of St. Paul.