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1 unaccounted for after fire in St. Louis' O'Fallon neighborhood

The fire department was working with the St. Louis Regional Bomb and Arson Unit to try and find the occupant.

ST. LOUIS — One person remained unaccounted for Monday afternoon after a fire tore through an apartment building in north St. Louis.

The St. Louis Fire Department responded shortly after 11:30 a.m. to a fire at a two-story building on the 4500 block of Athlone Avenue, in the city's O'Fallon neighborhood. They arrived to find heavy flames in the two-story duplex.

Fire department spokesperson Garon Mosby said crews had initial trouble getting inside due to "hoarding conditions" throughout the building.

The fire department was working Monday afternoon with the St. Louis Regional Bomb and Arson Unit to locate a man who lives in one of the units and was still unaccounted for. Mosby said if they were not found, the next step would be to perform a K-9 search of the building once it had cooled.

The man was still unaccounted for Tuesday morning, Mosby said. Crews remained at the scene, but the freezing temperatures made it difficult for the K-9 search team to pick up a scent. They will likely have to wait for things to thaw before conducting a thorough search.

Firefighters did not believe the person who lives in the other unit was home at the time.

The cause of the fire remained undetermined.

Mosby said the fire was the third in a single shift that the department had responded to amid freezing temperatures. He reminded people to be careful when using space heaters to keep their homes warm.

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