A fire tore through the ground floor of an apartment building on East 24th Street in Minneapolis on Monday, forcing a dozen residents out of their homes and sending smoke billowing up through the second and third floors. No injuries were reported, but by nightfall, those displaced still had no idea when they would be allowed back inside.
Minneapolis fire crews responded to the blaze at 510 E. 24th St., according to KARE 11. The fire itself stayed concentrated on the ground floor, but smoke spread upward, prompting evacuations of residents on the second and third floors as crews worked to get everyone out safely.
In total, 12 residents were displaced by the fire, the outlet reported. Those residents will need to find an alternate place to sleep Monday night, with fire officials not yet saying when anyone might be able to move back into their units.
No Injuries Reported
Fire crews reported that no one was injured in the blaze, a relief given the scope of the evacuation across multiple floors.
No cause for Monday's fire has been determined, and it remains unclear how many units sustained damage beyond the ground floor. The same uncertainty extends to when displaced tenants can expect answers about their belongings or their leases.
A Pattern of Displacement Across Minneapolis
Monday's fire adds to a string of apartment blazes that have displaced Minneapolis renters this year. In January, a fire displaced 17 adults, seven children and three pets from a 10-unit, three-story complex in south Minneapolis, according to FOX 9. Investigators in that case pointed to a potential electrical fire that began in the building's attic, and roughly 54 firefighters responded with no injuries reported.
A separate fire in August displaced residents from four apartment units in the 1000 block of Portland Avenue near Elliot Park, FOX 9 reported. One firefighter was hospitalized with a non-life-threatening injury in that incident, and the cause remained under investigation. The outlet noted the Red Cross reportedly assisted residents displaced by that fire.
It is not clear whether the Red Cross is assisting residents from Monday's fire on East 24th Street. The Minneapolis Fire Department said on X
that several apartment units are uninhabitable and that the Red Cross was being contacted to assist residents, though that post was tied to a separate incident rather than Monday's fire specifically.
