One Dead, One Missing in St. Louis Hoarder House Fire

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

(TNS)

ST. LOUIS — Firefighters pushed their way past waist-high clutter in a hoarder's home in the city's Southwest Garden neighborhood Tuesday morning and found a man dead.

The St. Louis Fire Department said the man was found as they searched the two-story home in the 5900 block of Southwest Avenue, just off of Hampton Avenue.

Crews saw heavy smoke when they arrived at the home around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. Fire had spread to the first and second floors.

Authorities haven't officially said what killed the man, but homicide detectives were called to the scene after a medical examiner investigator examined the body and found injuries beyond the fire.

The home was packed with items in what the Fire Department called "hoarding conditions." St. Louis fire Capt. Garon Mosby said items were stacked knee- and waist-deep. Crews found the man on the second floor.

Hoarding conditions are a significant danger because they increase the risk of being trapped and block exits.

No details were immediately released about the victim. A man reportedly lived alone in the home but authorities have not confirmed who died. A 67-year-old man is listed in property records as owning the two-family property.

St. Louis fire investigators and detectives with the St. Louis regional bomb & arson unit will be looking into the fire, as is protocol anytime someone dies in a fire. But after the medical examiner's investigator examined the man's body, homicide detectives were called to the scene too.

The death hasn't been officially ruled a homicide as of Tuesday morning.

Fatal fire in 5900 block of Southwest Ave.

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