Man, woman found dead in rubble of Minneapolis apartment building after fire, officials say search is complete
MINNEAPOLIS — Nearly two days after an apartment fire in downtown Minneapolis, investigators found the bodies of a man and woman inside.
The discovery happened Thursday morning, and it came after fire crews had swept the building on 11th Avenue South more than once.
"That window up there, there was a lady literally sitting on her windowsill yelling for help," said Laura Hanken.
Hanken lives next door to where the apartment fire broke out, on Tuesday night. Like others, she was under the impression that everyone made it out of the building. Then came the news that the bodies of a man and a woman were found on the top floor.
"My heart just goes out to the families and everything," said Hanken.
At a press conference Friday afternoon, Chief Bryan Tyner talked about how the heavy smoke and flames forced firefighters to leave the inside of the building and fight the fire defensively.
"Due to the imminent roof collapse, fire crews were not able to complete imminent searches of the building to include the top floor," said Chief Tyner. Still, another building sweep afterwards made them think everyone was accounted for.
But on Thursday morning, the property manager told investigators that he hadn't seen one of his tenants since the fire. A new search found the couple under the collapsed roof.
"Although we were able to rescue a number of residents, tragically we discovered yesterday that we were not able to rescue them all," said Chief Tyner.
They returned with cadaver dogs Friday morning and confirmed there were no additional victims inside.
"I'm trying to wrap my head around it," Asten Quartermain.
Quartermain's son and son's mother live in the building. He said he's also responsible for cleaning the apartment complex once a week. On Wednesday morning the property manager told him he didn't have to work because the fire destroyed everything.
"They are still shaken up because they've never been through anything like this before," said Quartermain.
The cause for the fire is still under investigation. Officials say it's possible it was intentionally set.