Victim in fatal Sauk Rapids building fire identified

UPDATE 4/23 at 9 a.m.: The Benton County Sheriff’s Office identified the man who died as 76-year-old John David Schram, of Sauk Rapids.

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A man is dead after a structure fire in Sauk Rapids on Sunday afternoon.

At around 1:45 p.m., the Benton County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a fire at a building near a residential home on the 400 block of 75th Street Northeast in Watab Township.

Authorities state that a 911 caller reported finding the burning building and a man who was on fire near the building. The caller tried to extinguish the flames on the man before calling 911 but was unsuccessful.

Officials arrived and provided first aid to the man but he was declared dead at the scene.

The Sauk Rapids Fire Department extinguished the building fire and other uncontrolled fires that reached two outdoor wood-burning stoves.

According to the sheriff’s office, the State Fire Marshal is assisting in the investigation as to the circumstances surrounding the fire.