Cause of February fire at Minneapolis' Camp Nenookaasi undetermined, investigators say
MINNEAPOLIS — Officials say the cause of a fire at an encampment for the homeless community in Minneapolis last month cannot be determined.
The city released the results of its fire department's investigation into the Feb. 29 fire at Camp Nenokaasi on Wednesday. At the time of the fire, the camp was located at 28th Street and 12th Avenue.
"There were dozens of illegal open fires and propane cooking devices discovered in the fire debris," the fire department said. "Due to the overwhelming amount of possible ignition sources in the area of origin and that there was still a large amount of propane containers that would need to be mitigated it was not possible to positively identify the one ignition source or the first fuel ignited."
An arson investigation will remain open because the cause could not be determined, the department said, and it will move forward if any new information is revealed.
The fire was extinguished 30 minutes after it began, but it leveled the site, leaving about 50 residents without a place to stay. After the fire, a new encampment was set up about half a block away.
Camp Nenookaasi's residents have been migrating around Minneapolis over the past months as city crews cleared each site on which they settled.
John Gonzalez, a journalist with Indigenous media group Standing Bear Network, captured video of he fire as it happened.
"After we saw the flames, things started to explode," he said. "They were propane canisters, there were fire extinguishers and things started to explode. Big ball of fire just engulfing everywhere."
Note: The video above originally aired March 1, 2024.