A man in his late 50s or early 60s died early this morning in an apartment fire at the Jackson Place Apartments, off Pralle Lane, in an unincorporated area of St. Charles County. Authorities believe the fire started in the dead man's apartment.

The fire was reported about 7:20 am and heavy smoke was billowing from the second-floor when firefighters arrived, according to Assistant Chief Steve Brown of Central County Fire and Rescue Firefighters pulled the man from the fire and gave him CPR at the scene. He was then taken to St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles. The building was evacuated, it took firefighters about 40 minutes to put the fire out, and they got everyone else in the 12-unit complex out safely. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.