4 hospitalized, 2 dead after Minneapolis apartment building fire near U.S. Bank Stadium
MINNEAPOLIS — Four people are in serious condition and two people are dead after a three-alarm fire tore through a downtown Minneapolis apartment building overnight Wednesday.
The Minneapolis Fire Department says crews first arrived at the scene Tuesday at about 9:42 p.m. on the corner of South 11th Street and East 15th Avenue in the Elliot Park neighborhood, about four blocks south of U.S. Bank Stadium.
Assistant Fire Chief Melanie Rucker says crews found the fire on the third floor, and firefighters used ladders to "rescue several residents that were hanging out of their apartment window in the rear of the building."
Rucker says two adults and a teenager were hospitalized with burns, and another adult was treated for smoke inhalation. All four people are in serious condition, authorities say.
On Thursday, the fire department was notified one of the building's residents, an "elderly male," was unaccounted for. Fire crews searched his unit and found him dead in the rubble. During the search for the man, crews located a second dead person on the fourth floor under the rubble from the roof collapse. Those deaths mark the second and third fire fatalities of the year, the department said.
The two were found more than a day after the initial fire response.
Crews plan to return on Friday to continue their search with cadaver dogs, city officials say.
WCCO spoke with a resident soon after he was reunited with his dog.
"Our family dog Coco, our brown Labrador, was in the fire for about two hours, two and a half hours maybe. We kind of sadly kind of almost gave up, and you know, we're just praying, hoping to see her again," said resident Hokiscala Cante Ma Yuha Metcalf. "But as of 15 minutes ago, she came out. And apparently, there's no wheezing, no lung problems. They gave her the oxygen tank for a long time there and she's pretty responsive, so I'm pretty thankful for that."
Rucker said 45 firefighters were on the scene to battle the fire and save lives.
Two buses and the Red Cross were called in to help evacuated residents. There is no word yet on how the fire started.
Ryan Thompson lost everything in the fire.
"It sucks, everything in there is gone," Thompson said.
Thompson was out getting dinner with his family and was shocked to see flames pouring from the roof of the four-story building.
Pets and residents were trapped inside.
Cellphone video from bystanders show residents climbing out of the second-floor window down ladders to safety.
For about 30 people, the place they once called home is condemned and all that remains is charred furniture and memories.
Thompson said he only has the clothes on his back but is grateful to have his life.
"There's nothing we could do but to keep going," he said.
