ST. PAUL — Public safety officials in Minnesota said there’s been a significant spike in the number of people killed in kitchen fires.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety said kitchen fires killed more people in 2013 than the previous seven years combined.

Six people died last year in fires caused by someone leaving food cooking unattended. The two leading causes of fatal fires are careless smoking and unattended cooking.

Forty-four people died in fires in Minnesota in 2013, a 12 percent decrease from 50 deaths in 2012. There were 6,330 structure fires.