Fire Forces Evacuation of St. Paul Senior High-Rise

ST. PAUL (AP) -- A fire forced hundreds of people from a St. Paul high-rise. The fire started Monday at about 8:00 p.m. in the 16-story Wilder Park senior high-rise building.

Deputy Fire Chief Roy Mokosso said that more than 60 firefighters responded to the scene and evacuated residents.

Because of damage to the elevators, some residents who could not use the stairs were left in their apartments. Mokosso said at least some areas in the building had sprinklers and the system had activated.

A fire at a Minneapolis Public Housing high-rise building without sprinklers killed five people in November.