A man died in a fire around 1 a.m. Friday at the Cedardale Apartments, 33627 25th Place SW, Federal Way.

South King Fire and Rescue found the body of a 60-year-old man in the apartment. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office is notifying the man’s next of kin.

The fire is under investigation, but appeared to be one of those “long, smoldering, smoky fires,” according to South King Fire spokeswoman Donna Conner.

The fire and smoke were contained to the one apartment unit. A neighboring resident had called 911, saying he could smell smoke and hear a smoke alarm ringing.

An assistant chief who arrived at the scene saw smoke seeping from around the top of the apartment unit’s door. The door was locked and there was no response from any occupants. When the door was forced open, heavy and hot smoke was encountered down to waist level, according to the fire district.

Three fire units arrived at the scene, removed the man from the apartment and extinguished the fire. According to South King Fire, response to the fire was delayed due to increased demands for service because of the winter storm. The assistant chief was the only available unit in the district when the call came in at 12:47 a.m.

The blaze is one of three reported in the past 12 hours. South King Fire responded to a call at 11:30 p.m. Thursday in the 31500 block of 36th Avenue South. The fire was confined to a wood stove/chimney area in a new house, causing about $20,000 in damage. No one was hurt.

Around 6 a.m. Friday, fire crews responded to a mobile home in the 1800 block of SW 349th Place. A towel caught fire after a man lit a candle and left the room. No one was hurt, but the fire caused about $30,000 in damage.