Fireworks sparked St. Paul apartment fire that displaced 40 people, investigators say
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Investigators have determined fireworks to be the official cause of a fire that destroyed an apartment complex in St. Paul on Saturday.
The St. Paul Fire Department said the building is now condemned, leaving 40 people displaced. The department said it first responded to the fire on the 1300 block of St. Paul Avenue around 4:20 p.m.
The fire started in the grass, spread to trees adjacent to the building and eventually the building itself. No injuries were reported, per the department.
Fighting the fire took more than five hours, the fire department said, and required the efforts of 12 fire companies, four chief officers, two ambulances and more than 60 fire department personnel.
Fshaye Mhreteab lives across the street and said he watched as crews struggle to get the fire under control.
"It's crazy because the smoke was very thick and in just a couple of minutes the whole block was just full of smoke," Mhreteab said. "It was very heavy to breathe just from sitting outside you could feel the heat from the flames.
Mhreteab added the neighbors living in the apartment complex were always kind when he saw them in passing.
"I'd seen the people outside they were kind of like looking stranded," he said. "They didn't know what to do. That's sad [just] the whole situation."
Investigators found fireworks debris near where the fire started, and residents told crews they heard fireworks before the fire, officials said. Police are aiding the fire department's investigation.
Mid-Continent Management President Frank French manages the 17-unit building. He said he didn't know who was responsible for the fireworks, but feels for the residents who were not involved, but lost everything.
"That's disheartening. That's painful to see because these people were just good people trying to live their lives, and it got disrupted," French said.
To help, Mid-Continent Management is collecting items for residents at its office located at 37 Isabel St. E., St. Paul, MN 55107. They're accepting household items like kitchenware, clothing and toiletries, with the exception of furniture.
"We would love to be part of the solution in helping these people get resituated and jump-start their lives again," he said.
French has been through a fire at one of his buildings before. He managed a Burnsville building that burned down in 2008, three days before Christmas in sub-zero temperatures. Then, in a Christmas miracle, an anonymous donor gave $1 million to be divided between the 200 displaced residents.
"That taught me a lesson, you know, about caring for people, caring about our residents and making sure that as traumatic as this loss was to them, they maybe lost their lives' fortunes," he said. "We can do our part to try and bring their lives and put their lives back together."
The fire department said the building had working smoke detectors but did not have sprinklers. The fire caused an estimated more than $2 million in damage.
The American Red Cross is also helping the families. Management tells WCCO that as of Monday, about half of them have moved to other properties they manage.
Note: The video above first aired July 8, 2023.