Investigators say a house fire that killed a South St. Paul father and his two young sons began in the garage where propane cooking equipment was used to prepare food.
Soeun Sem, 60, and his sons — 5-year-old Alexander and 2-year-old Eric — died Oct. 13 when the fire spread from the basement-level attached garage up the stairs to the first level of the house on the 300 block of 11th Avenue S.
Investigators said that propane cooking equipment was found in the area where the fire started and that it was often used to prepare food. The overhead garage door and the doors between the garage and the house were open and likely contributed to the rapid spread of smoke and fire into the house, investigators said.
The father and two boys died from smoke inhalation.
Mary Lynn Smith
