Families left without homes after fire damages townhomes in Otsego
OTSEGO, Minn. -- A fire damaged multiple townhomes in Otsego Sunday night.
According to the Elk River Fire Department, crews from multiple cities responded just after 8 p.m. to a "heavily involved" townhome fire. It happened near the intersection of Highway 101 and 70th Street Northeast.
The department said firefighters "fought aggressively against the fire," but three units sustained damage. There were only minor injuries reported.
Broken glass and a torched frame were all that was left in the aftermath.
"It was just chaos. Fire trucks all over the place. Police escorting people to safety," neighbor Anthony Carhill said.
Elk River Assistant Fire Chief Joe Libor said a neighbor caught two of the victims that had jumped from the upstairs balcony to the floor.
"Last night we had hundreds of people out here offering help," Libor said. "A lot of different agencies and fire aid out here to keep it from getting worse than it was."
Three families are now left without a home, and all eight units in the block are unlivable.
"It's terrible, for the whole complex. People without a home, without water without electricity. This is what you don't want to see," Carhill said. "Glad everyone is OK, that's the one good thing to take away from this. ... Seeing the kids, three or four kids crying, trying to console them. It's hard to see."
Amid the devastation, a pile of donations grows bigger.
"We need anything and everything right now," neighbor Kayla Boudin said. "It makes you really grateful for what you have in the moment, because you don't know the next day it could be gone."
Boudin will be collecting donations for a few more days. She says anyone can stop by and drop off items.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.