A fire tore through a brick apartment building near St. Catherine University in St. Paul on Monday morning, collapsing the roof and forcing evacuations of neighboring buildings as crews fought the blaze from ladder trucks positioned along Randolph Avenue near Fairview Avenue. The three-story structure with a garden level, known as Randolph Terrace Apartments, contains 20 apartments, and a thick plume of smoke rose into the sky as the fire grew.
According to MPR News, firefighters battled the blaze Monday morning at the 20-unit building near the St. Catherine University campus. The fire department reported that the roof had collapsed and that neighboring buildings were also being evacuated as a precaution. Three firefighters worked from an aerial ladder platform at the scene, while crews used ladder trucks to reach the roof.
Scene Remains Active as Crews Shift Tactics
In an update issued just before 10:30 a.m., the fire department said the scene remained active and that defensive operations had been ordered, a shift in strategy typically used when crews pull back from fighting a fire inside a structure to attack it from the outside instead. The department also reported that an initial search of all floors had evacuated the building, the same update noted.
City Department of Safety and Inspections staff were sent to the scene to assist and assess the structural integrity of the fire-damaged building, per the fire department's report. The American Red Cross was called in separately to assist displaced residents, though the report did not specify how many tenants would need help finding shelter.
Cause and Damage Still Unclear
At the time of the report, there were no immediate reports of any injuries, and the fire department had not released information on the extent of the damage. The cause of the fire was also not immediately known, leaving investigators with work ahead before answers emerge about what sparked the blaze.
St. Paul has seen serious apartment fires before. In May 2023, a suspected arson at another St. Paul apartment building displaced 38 people, according to twincities.com, with one resident and one firefighter suffering non-life-threatening injuries in that incident. In a separate case, investigators believed a different St. Paul apartment fire had been intentionally set, and that building was later inspected and had 42 units condemned, according to KSTP.
No such determinations have been made in Monday's fire at Randolph Terrace Apartments, and officials have not said whether the building will face a similar fate. For now, residents displaced by the collapse and the ongoing defensive firefight are relying on the Red Cross for support while inspectors work to determine whether the building can be salvaged.
