1 dead in Minneapolis house fire

By KSTP

UPDATE 05/25:

The victim was identified by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office on Saturday as Edward Joseph Stack, 83. His cause of death was smoke inhalation.

Officials say a man died in a house fire Friday afternoon in the Northrop neighborhood of Minneapolis.

According to the Minneapolis Fire Department, crews responded to a report of a fire at a two-story home on the 4800 block of 12th Avenue South around 12:41 p.m. Heavy smoke poured from the first floor and the chimney, and firefighters were told that a man who lives in the home was unaccounted for.

Firefighters had to force their way into the home and had difficulty navigating the clutter blocking the front and rear entrances, the fire department said.

Eventually, crews were able to start dousing the flames from inside the home and conduct a search. An elderly man was found on the first floor and was removed from the home; he was pronounced dead at the scene.

As of 4 p.m., firefighters were still working to put out the remnants of the fire, which had destroyed much of the house.

The deceased’s name and cause of death have yet to be released.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.