Brooklyn Center apartment fire displaces 27 people

No one was injured at a two-alarm fire at a Brooklyn Center apartment complex Sunday night, but 27 residents of a 12-unit building were left homeless.

The Brooklyn Center Fire Department received a call at 5:18 p.m. reporting a deck fire on the third floor of a building in the Twin Lake North apartment complex in Brooklyn Center, said Gary Hendrickson, deputy fire chief.

Crews from the Brooklyn Park, Robbinsdale, Fridley and West Metro fire departments also responded, Hendrickson said.

By 6:50 p.m., the fire was out and crews were working inside to extinguish hot spots, he said.

"All the crews that were here to assist did a great job," Hendrickson said, adding that at least three cats were rescued from the second floor.

There was significant damage to two units, Fire Chief Jeremy Hulke said. The fire's cause is unknown.

The apartment of Pamela Collins and her two children, who lived next door to the unit where the fire began, was destroyed. The apartment was special because it was her first home after moving back to Minnesota last year, Collins said.

She wasn't sure where she was going to sleep Sunday night, she said. "We're hoping someone will reach out to us," she said. "Now is the time I have my faith in God's people."

Mark Johnson and his family live below the unit where the fire started. He said that apartment's tenant had been gone during the blaze and just returned home. Johnson said he'd heard the woman had left her stove on.

Just one family ended up needing shelter for the night, said Dave Schoeneck, a Red Cross volunteer spokesman.

Resident Cheryl Prince remembers another, far more tragic fire at the sprawling complex in early 2015 that killed 2-year-old Keoni Holt. She donated money to the boy's mother to help with expenses, she said.

Erin Adler • 612-673-1781