A man sitting on the ledge of a window of a burning fifth-floor apartment Monday morning in St. Paul fell to his death, officials said.
The small fire broke out at Pathways on the Park at 170 Ruth St. and was extinguished by sprinklers by the time firefighters showed up, said Deputy Fire Chief Roy Mokosso.
The firefighters found the man "on the ground with traumatic injuries consistent with a fall from a significant height," Mokosso said.
A caller alerted police around 7:30 a.m. to the man sitting on the window ledge and "was concerned this person would jump," said Police Sgt. Mike Ernster.
Ernster said officers attempted to go up to the apartment and talk to the man, but instead they found him on the ground below the window ledge where the caller saw him sitting.
Emergency medical personnel took him to Regions Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to Mokosso.
Police identified the man as 69-year-old Burk Jones.
Mokosso said that "preliminary investigation does not show evidence or signs of this incident being ruled a fire fatality." It's unclear whether the fall was accidental or intentional.
