Man dies, officer suffers severe burns in Virginia apartment fire
VIRGINIA, Minn. — Two officers are hurt and a man is dead after police say he set his apartment on fire in northern Minnesota early Thursday.
It happened in Virginia at a building near 2nd Street North and North 1st Avenue West, according to the Virginia Police Department.
Officers were called to the building just before 5 a.m. on a report of a man threatening to kill himself, and they arrived to find his apartment on fire.
Police say officers weren't able to convince the man to get out before it became fully engulfed. His remains were later found by firefighters.
One of the officers suffered "severe burns to multiple parts of his body," police say. Another officer suffered smoke inhalation and was treated and released from an area hospital.
The city's fire department and four other local departments worked jointly to get the flames under control.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the State Fire Marshal's office are leading the investigation.
Virginia is about six miles north of Eveleth on the Mesabi Iron Range.
MORE NEWS: Eveleth bands together for hockey player Katie Johnson after crash with moose