Firefighters found flames pouring from a bedroom window and thick smoke throughout the building at a St. Cloud apartment building late Monday night, after a candle left burning unattended sparked a blaze that ultimately forced residents from 12 units to leave their homes.
Crews were dispatched to 909 5th Avenue South at around 10:30 p.m. on Monday for a reported apartment fire, according to WJON. When they arrived, they discovered heavy fire showing from a bedroom window along with heavy smoke conditions throughout the building. Despite the intensity of what greeted them, firefighters were able to confirm that everyone inside had evacuated safely before crews contained the flames to the single unit where the fire started.
WJON reports that the fire was extinguished and the building was ventilated to clear out the smoke. WJON reports that no injuries were reported among residents or responding crews. That is a modest silver lining for a building where the damage still proved widespread enough to displace residents from 12 units overnight.
Smoke Damage Forces Residents From a Dozen Units
Even though the flames themselves stayed confined to the apartment where they started, smoke damage spread far enough that residents of 12 apartment units were displaced as a result, per the fire marshal's office. The St. Cloud Health Department has since closed the building until the necessary cleaning is completed and the alarm system is fully restored, leaving those tenants without a clear timeline for returning home.
The St. Cloud Fire Marshal determined the cause of the fire was an unattended candle, the same account notes, pinning the blame on a common household hazard.
Candles Have a Long Track Record of Sparking Minnesota Fires
Monday's fire fits into a broader pattern across the state. At least 345 fires have been started by candles in Minnesota since 2018, according to the State Fire Marshal division of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, as reported by Twin Cities Pioneer Press. Those fires have proven far from harmless: one person has died and 34 others were injured in candle-sparked blazes over that same five-year span, with an estimated $9.4 million in property damage and $2.9 million in loss of belongings tallied statewide.
St. Cloud has seen its share of displacement from residential fires this year. A separate house fire in the city left 11 people displaced and one person hospitalized, according to KNSI. In that earlier incident, crews arrived to find heavy smoke and fire coming from the second and third story windows of the home, though everyone got out safely and the flames were contained to the upper floors.
For now, the residents displaced from 12 apartment units by Monday's fire are left waiting for cleaning to be completed and the alarm system to be restored before the building on 5th Avenue South can reopen. The cause has been settled, but the disruption is a reminder of how quickly a single unattended flame can upend an entire building.
