Authorities confirmed Monday that a woman who died in a St. Paul house fire last week was one of the homeowners.

Officers and firefighters responded to a 911 call about 11:45 p.m. Wednesday from the St. Anthony Park neighborhood. A man told police his wife was still inside the home with their dogs.

Firefighters found Sylvia C. Ruud, 79, deceased in the room where the fire started on Buford Avenue near Grantham Street. Paramedics took another resident to a hospital for treatment. Two dogs died in the fire.

A preliminary investigation indicated smoking as the cause and working smoke detectors weren’t found in the area where it started, the fire department said last week.

Smoking is the leading cause of fatal fires in Minnesota.

Ruud’s death was the sixth fire fatality in St. Paul this year, including four children who perished after a fire in their home on Jan. 3. An 83-year-old man died after a fire in his home last month. The city usually averages two to three fatal fires per year.

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