St. Paul fire cause determined and woman remembered

Tina Franco-Kvalevog couldn't stand to see her friend's possessions thrown into the trash.

So Monday afternoon, a day after fire ravaged Renee Tollas' St. Paul home and claimed her life, Franco-Kvalevog stood watch over the soggy and charred mementos scattered about the snow of Tollas' yard.

"She was the sweetest … person there was. All she did was take care of people," Franco-Kvalevog said.

Tollas, 64, died early Sunday when a worn electrical outlet in her living room ignited nearby furniture, setting fire to her home in the 70 block of E. Rose Avenue. St. Paul Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard said Monday that Tollas died of smoke inhalation.

On Sunday, Zaccard had said that Tollas had collected so many personal items — some stacked 4 feet high — that it made it difficult for firefighters to find her. It also made it harder for her to escape, Zaccard said.

On Monday, many of those possessions and mementos — including stuffed animals — were piled in the snow.

Franco-Kvalevog and others described Tollas, who worked at Home Depot in Inver Grove Heights, as a generous friend.

A week ago, when the two went to lunch, Goffard-Geslin gave Tollas a bracelet with a heart as a gift. It was Goffard-Geslin's way of apologizing for not keeping in better touch. "I feel kind of guilty," a teary-eyed Goffard-Geslin said, adding that she and Tollas had planned to celebrate Tollas' birthday next week.

Goffard-Geslin said Tollas "hung onto a lot of things," but had recently told her she was trying to get better at not accumulating so much.

Still, when friends offered to help Tollas clear her home, she was too embarrassed to let them go inside. "She wasn't a hoarder. … She just loved to shop," Franco-Kvalevog said.

While city inspectors could condemn a house for hoarding if it's considered a safety risk, Tollas' house had no record of such complaints, said Robert Humphrey, a spokesman for the city's Department of Safety and Inspections. "We condemn a number of houses for hoarding every year," Humphrey said. "At a certain point, it crosses the line."

Janet Yeats, co-founder of nonprofit the Hoarding Project, which has offices in Washington state and in St. Paul, said there is a common misconception that hoarding only pertains to keeping biohazards, such as rotting food or feces.

In Yeats' opinion, Tollas showed signs of having a hoarding problem.

Yeats added that hoarding is more than "just having clutter, beyond just collecting. … It's a risky behavior."

Nicole Norfleet • 612-673-4495