Two firefighters were injured in a large fire that consumed two commercial buildings in south Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon.
According to the Minneapolis Fire Department, the fire was reported at 4:03 p.m. at a single-story building located at 1300 East Franklin Avenue.
Firefighters searched the building after receiving reports of people running out of it, and while they were fighting the fire inside, heavy shelving collapsed on hose lines, forcing them to evacuate.
“During the evacuation, two firefighters had shelving fall and block their exit, prompting a Mayday call,” MFD said in a press release. “Both firefighters were able to safely exit the building but suffered minor burn injuries and heat exhaustion. They were evaluated on scene by HCMC paramedics, transported to a local hospital for further assessment, and have since been released.”
The two injured firefighters suffered steam burns and exhaustion, battling the blaze on an October day in which the high temperature set a record of 90 degrees in Minneapolis.
“The 1300 side of the structure has a large volume of shelving and items inside, so crews had a hard time getting through the large amount of things that were inside. Crews made entry, had heavy fire in the entry of the building. Crews decided to evacuate,” said Melanie Rucker, assistant chief of the Minneapolis Fire Department.
The fire prompted a 3-alarm response, with roughly 50-60 firefighters on duty.
Rucker said the back part of one building had collapsed, and large air-conditioning units on an adjacent building fell through the roof.
“Hopefully we are able to keep it from spreading to the other buildings,” she said Sunday, “but the 1300 and the 1308 have a common added space, so the fire has run across the building. The roofs are starting to collapse.”
Rucker said the cause of the fire is under investigation, although she did say the fire may have been started by “possibly unhoused” people who were reportedly running out of the building.
