St. George Police officers are first at the scene of a structure fire reported at an apartment complex near the corner of 500 South and Bluff Street, St. George, Utah, March 16, 2021 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News
ST. GEORGE, Utah — An older man died in a fire that broke out Tuesday night in an apartment off Bluff Street that brought more than a dozen fire engines, trucks and patrol vehicles to the scene of a blaze.
The fire was reported shortly after 8:30 p.m. at an apartment complex on the corner of 500 South and Bluff Street. It left one unit nearly destroyed and three other units damaged. A passerby saw smoke coming from the complex and called 911 to report the blaze.
St. George Fire Chief Robert Stoker told St. George News at the scene there was one fatality reported, a man in his 70s who was the sole occupant of the unit when it caught fire. The man was found deceased inside.
The fire was extinguished quickly, and crews then began the task of checking for extensions of the fire. St. George Police detectives and an assistant Utah State Fire Marshal responded to the scene to assist St. George Fire Department investigators in determining the cause and origin of the fire, Stoker said, as well as any other factors that may have been involved.