Four hospitalized, two dead after Minneapolis apartment building fire near US Bank Stadium

MINNEAPOLIS — Four people are in serious condition and two are dead after a three-alarm fire tore through a downtown Minneapolis apartment building Wednesday night.

The Minneapolis Fire Department said crews arrived at the scene around 9:42 p.m. Tuesday at the corner of South 11th Street and East 15th Avenue in the Elliot Park neighborhood, about four blocks south of U.S. Bank Stadium.

Deputy Fire Chief Melanie Rucker said crews discovered the fire on the third floor and firefighters used ladders to “rescue several residents who were hanging from their apartment windows at the rear of the building.”

Rucker said 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 said.

On Thursday, firefighters were notified that one of the apartment building’s residents, an “elderly man,” was missing. Firefighters searched his apartment and found him dead in the rubble. During the search, firefighters located a second person dead on the fourth floor under the rubble from the roof collapse. The deaths mark the second and third fire deaths of the year, the department said.

The two bodies were found more than a day after the initial response to the fire.

WCCO

Teams plan to return Friday to continue their search with cadaver dogs, city officials said.

WCCO spoke with a resident shortly after finding his dog.

“Our dog Coco, our brown Labrador, was in the fire for about two hours, maybe two and a half hours. We almost gave up, but we’re praying and hoping to see her again,” said Hokiscala resident Cante Ma Yuha Metcalf. “But 15 minutes ago, she came out. And apparently, she has no wheezing, no lung problems. They gave her an oxygen tank for a long time and she’s responding pretty well, so I’m very grateful for that.”

Rucker said 45 firefighters were on scene battling the blaze and saving lives.

Two buses and the Red Cross were mobilized to help the evacuated residents. It is still unclear how the fire started.

Ryan Thompson lost everything in the fire.

“It sucks, everything that was in there is gone,” Thompson said.

Thompson was out to dinner with his family and was shocked to see flames shooting from the roof of the four-story building.

Pets and residents were trapped inside.

Video shows people escaping burning building in Minneapolis 01:55

Videos filmed by passersby show residents climbing out of second-floor windows and climbing down ladders to safety.

For about 30 people, the place they once called home is doomed and all that remains are charred furniture and memories.

Thompson said he only had the clothes on his body, but was grateful to have his life.

“We can't do anything but keep going,” he said.

More information on CBS News

Stephen Swanson

Stephen Swanson is a web producer at CBS Minnesota. A 21-year veteran of WCCO-TV, Stephen was a floor director for a decade before moving to the newsroom, where he focuses on general reporting.

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