Two people were killed and a third person was injured in a fire Tuesday night in South St. Paul.

Rescuers pulled two children and a man from the one house, one neighbor said

The fire broke out about 9 p.m. in a home in the 300 block of 11th Avenue S. Police and firefighters had the block cordoned off still early Wednesday.

When South St. Paul police and fire crews from the South Metro Fire Department and Inver Grove Heights arrived, they saw flames coming from the rear of the residence, Police Chief William Messerich said in a statement.

Firefighters found the three people inside, where crews experienced "intense heat and smoke," Messerich said.

The two were dead at the scene while the injured person was taken by ambulance to a hospital. Messerich did not know the person's condition.

No further information on the victims or circumstances surrounding the fire was immediately available from authorities.

Neighbor Dave Nash, who lives a block away, said he saw rescuers taking the children and the man from the scene. One child was put in an ambulance after receiving CPR, Nash said.

The fire will be investigated by South St. Paul police, the South Metro Fire Department and the state fire marshal.

Check StarTribune.com for updates in this developing story.

VINCE TUSS AND LIZ SAWYER