Fire damages Eagan townhome complex, displacing residents

Several residents of an Eagan townhome complex are without a home after a fire early Wednesday damaged the buildings where they lived.

No one was hurt and first responders were able to get everybody out of the affected buildings, Eagan Fire Chief Hugo Searle said.

Flames were seen shooting from the top floor of a building at the Forest Ridge Townhomes on Ironwood Lane about 2:30 a.m. when firefighters arrived, Searle said.

The two-alarm fire also drew help from Burnsville, Apple Valley, Inver Grove Heights and the south metro fire departments.

A Metro Transit bus was brought to the scene to give evacuated residents a place to keep warm. Later in the day, some residents were allowed inside their units to retrieve belongings, Searle said.

However, 16 units were left uninhabitable. The Red Cross is assisting 20 to 25 people, said spokeswoman Lynette Nyman.

Investigators will try to determine how the fire started.