1 Killed in Early Morning Fire at St. Paul Home

Firefighters found a woman dead inside a St. Paul home early Thursday morning after they were called to the house to put out a fire.

Fire crews say they arrived a little before 3 a.m. and the entire front left corner of the house was up in flames, but the flames didn’t spread into any other rooms.

The house was on the 900 block of Carroll Ave. The flames reached to the house next door where neighbors called 911.

The woman was found dead inside her bedroom. No one else was inside the home. Family identified the woman at 49-year-old Lorine Johnson. Family says Johnson was living alone in her deceased husband's home. The home had been in the Johnson family for at least 70 years.

It was previously reported that Johnson was 39 years old, but that information has since been updated.

A St. Paul arson team with police officers are investigating whether arson may be to blame.

According to the St. Paul fire chief, the fire started in the bedroom where the woman was, and crews say there seemed to be a lot of candles inside.

This the fifth fatal fire in St. Paul this year. All four other deadly fires were caused by smoking.
 

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