Minneapolis Fire Department Unsure What Caused 'Monster Campfire' Near Stone Arch Bridge

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A large fire broke out near the Stone Arch Bridge early Sunday morning.

The Minneapolis Fire Department said a pile of old tree limbs caught fire. The department responded around 1:30 a.m.

Flames were so tall they were getting close to some main powerlines.

It took firefighters more than an hour to get the fire out. The department said it is not sure if something from Saturday night's Aquatennial fireworks got into the tree pile and smoldered, or if something was thrown into the pile.

"It basically turned into just a monster campfire," battalion chief Steve Dziedzic said. "We had three lines and a big massive, it's called a Blitzfire that puts huge amounts of water, copious amounts of water on it, we still weren't having any effect for about the first hour, and then we finally got it under control."

Dziedzic said there were also a couple small fires during and after the fireworks due to the dry conditions this year.