Abandoned Minneapolis building fire forces evacuations, road closure
MINNEAPOLIS — Multiple people experiencing homelessness were forced to evacuate from a Minneapolis building after an overnight fire.
The fire started just before 11:30 p.m. Wednesday at a boarded-up building on 19th Street East and Fifth Avenue South in Minneapolis, according to the Minneapolis Fire Department.
"During searches of the building several squatters were found inside and ran out of the building," the department said.
At one point, crews needed to reposition themselves after a partial roof collapse.
So far, no injuries have been reported. However, firefighters have not yet confirmed that all units of the building were cleared out due to the collapsed roof. As of 8:20 a.m., crews are still battling the fire. The department said "they will be on scene for several more hours working."
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Because of the fire, Fifth Avenue was temporarily closed from Franklin Avenue, north to the on-ramp for Interstate 35W and I-94 eastbound.
"As we walked up we could see there was just water pouring out of the lowest levels, so they must have hit it pretty hard," Minneapolis resident Travis Krueger said.
Crews were on scene all night and into the day Wednesday working to put out any remaining hot spots.
Firefighters say about 15-20 people were living inside the boarded-up building. All got out safely and ran away, they said.
"I still have some friends who live in this apartment," said Minneapolis resident Christophil.
He said he used to live nearby the building. He said there's been several overdoses in the area and drug use remains a reality.
"It's just a sad thing because I come back to this area to remember them to only see that it's gotten worse. It saddens me," Christophil said.
Fire officials said the building has been a problem spot for years with a big fire last November and the most recent one just a few weeks ago.
"Having fires and having them be able to get out is very dangerous for people that are squatting in it as well as our firefighters having to go in and fight those fires," Assistant Chief Melanie Rucker said.
She suspects the damage may be too great and that the building will need to be demolished.
"Until then, we will have it boarded up again and hopefully no one is able to go in again and get injured or start other fires," Rucker said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Hope Community, who owns the apartment property said the building has been boarded up and regularly monitored since June of 2023. The boards were re-secured on Tuesday afternoon, and since a fire last November, Hope Community has been working on a demolition plan.
Hope Community issued the following statement:
For the last two years, Hope Community has been sounding the alarm about cracks in the support for existing affordable housing units in the Twin Cities. We have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in security at the Dundry building, but providing broad public safety services is unsustainable for a community organization. Last summer we worked with the residents to find other housing after a series of escalating vandalism incidents . . . this fire and other similar incidents across the metro are evidence that our housing system is not meeting the needs of all of our neighbors – especially as the Dundry itself, prior to last summer, provided the exact type of housing and services to meet the needs of the people who sought shelter there.
