UPDATED: 1 dead, 5 homeless after early morning fire at Saint John apartment

One person is dead and five people are homeless following an early morning fire at an apartment complex in Saint John.

More than a dozen firefighters responded to the building at 201 St. James Street West around 4 a.m.

“There was fire trucks everywhere, firefighters on the roof, inside the building, outside the building,” said eyewitness Joseph Comeau.

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Firefighters confirmed a body was found in an apartment at the rear of the building, but they were forced to back out before they could retrieve it.

(All photos courtesy of Joseph Comeau/JPOC Photography)

“Crews had to be hauled out of the building due to that large amount of fire, so we made a second entry and recovered the victim and brought him outside,” said deputy fire chief Joe Armstrong.

Saint John police said the cause of the fire is not believed to be suspicious.

The Canadian Red Cross said four tenants that were home at the time of the fire managed to escape while another was not in the building. The organization is assisting three of the tenants with temporally lodging, food and clothing.

With files from Shelley Steeves, Global News