Gang Activity Questioned In Fridley Mobile Home Fire
FRIDLEY, Minn. (WCCO) -- A family is trying to pick up the pieces after a fire swept through their mobile home in Fridley.
It destroyed Ralph and Tammy Manzi's home on Onondaga Way. They were able to make it out OK, but lost everything.
Investigators are not sure how the fire started. The fire took everything Ralph and Tammy had away.
The couple adopted their two grandchildren, ages 3 and 4, and now they are looking for a new place to live while investigators try and determine if recent tagging by gang members is connected to the fire.
"Everything, we lost clothes, ID, furniture, toys, everything," said Ralph Manzi.
Manzi can't believe only pieces are left of his home.
"My hard work I put into it, to keep it going and it just went up and gone," Manzi said.
Manzi says his family was inside when the fire broke out.
"And the smoke alarm went off and Tammy smelled smoke in the back I looked out the front and the whole thing was up in flames," Manzi said.
But the family was able to get out.
A neighbor was able to save the family cat who was trying to get away from the flames.
"My daughter was there, she saw the kitten, picked him up, ran him to the house and quickly got him in water," said Natividad Seefeld, Co-Op president at Park Plaza.
Mitten the kitten had third degree burns on all of his paws, he lost part of his nose and whiskers.
Investigators are still trying to determine how the fire started.
They are looking at all possible scenarios including suspicious activity.
Just feet away from Ralph's home, tagging by gang members.
"All of a sudden we got a rash of graffiti our place in a week and a half time we got hit three times total," Seefeld said.
Right now there is an investigation into the increase in gang activity there.
"We had some interior damage to a couple of homes as well to our signage some of the city area some of the sidewalk area," said Seefeld.
For now, the family is staying in a hotel, Manzi says all he wants is a place he and his family can call home.
Manzi says he would like to have another home right where the old one stands.
Members of his labor union have set up an account to help the family.
If you'd like to help, an account has been set up at the Teamster's Credit Union.
