Disabled hydrants, Lake Street construction hamper Uptown Minneapolis house fire fight

Residents frustrated after construction delays firefighters at Uptown Minneapolis blaze

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Fire Department crews had a difficult time finding working hydrants to keep a large house fire from spreading early Wednesday morning in Uptown.

Crews were called out to a house off James Avenue South and West Lake Street at about midnight, just east of Bde Maka Ska.

Deputy Chief Rita Juran says firefighters found flames on the second and third floor. She says the only person who lived in the house got out safely.  

Juran says crews kept the flames from spreading to surrounding buildings, but it wasn't easy because of all the construction in Uptown.

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"We've got fire hydrants all the way up and down Lake Street that are shut off, so our crews who are trying to hook up water for our aerial ladder were looking for hydrants, all of them shut off," Juran said. "We had to bump out to Lagoon in order to find a hydrant that would work. We're also having water pressure issues, however the crews made it work here. They did an awesome job with an aggressive attack."

Chief Bryan Tyner says the situation is one his crews will just have to deal with for the time being.

"This is something you have to do. The water lines have to be maintained. If not, you have burst water mains and things like that, which we've seen from time to time, or where water goes bad and you have bad water," Tyner said.

Neighbors they've gotten notices their water would be shut off multiple times. However, neighbor Isaiah Sullivan says this was the most unfortunate time for the water to be off.

"I get that we need infrastructure change, and need to rebuild these streets and do what we can to make sure we're not dealing with major problems down the road," Sullivan said. "But this is becoming a major problem right now. It's affecting a resident and a business by their house burning down."

"It wasn't even a thing that crossed my mind until last night. I didn't think for one second that it was going to be a problem to get a fire truck in, or an ambulance, but that's what crosses your mind now," Sullivan continued.

Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the fire.

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