St. Pete Man's Death Under Investigation

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The Wednesday night death of a 71-year-old man found unresponsive in an apartment with an active fire remains under investigation.

According to St. Petersburg Fire Rescue, first responders were called to an apartment in the 3300 block of 58th Avenue South around 10:45 p.m. April 5. The initial call was for an unresponsive person, but crews found light smoke coming from the second floor of the building when they arrived.

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The discovery of smoke led to the upgrade of the medical call to a structure fire response. The agency said that firefighters tried to revive the man found in the home. He was taken to Bayfront Health, but was pronounced dead at 11:33 p.m.

The fire remains under investigation, but “appears to have been an accidental cooking fire,” an email from fire rescue said.

The man who died has been identified as Ronald Griffin. His death is still under investigation, but authorities say foul play is not suspected.

Further information is not yet available.

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