ST. PAUL — Three young sons who lived with their father in a St. Paul apartment were spending the night elsewhere when a fire broke out and killed him.

Justin Slanina, 29, died last weekend while his boys, ages 6, 7 and 8, were staying with their mother.

The victim’s uncle, Bob Slanina and his fiancee, Michelle Berg, broke the news to the boys.

“We told them there was an accident at their house, that there was a fire and the paramedics did everything they could to try to save their daddy, and now he’s in heaven with great-grandma Ginny and grandma Wendy,” Berg said of Justin’s mother and grandmother. “They all just started to cry and cry. It was the most heartbreaking thing to watch.”