CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) — A fire chief says one person has died after a blaze that damaged an apartment in Charles City.

Chief Eric Whipple says the fire was reported just before 4:20 a.m. Tuesday. Whipple says the flames were contained to just one unit at the Clarkview Apartments on the east side of Charles City, although other tenants were briefly evacuated.

Mason City television station KIMT reports that the person was found inside the apartment, taken to Floyd County Medical Center and was pronounced dead there. Whipple declined to release the person's name or other information, except to say it's believed the person was a tenant in the damaged apartment.

Whipple says the fire started in the apartment kitchen. State investigators have been called in to help find the cause.

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