Dozens displaced after large fire ravages 2 residential buildings and garage in south Minneapolis

Two residential buildings and a garage with several vehicles caught fire late Wednesday in a block on a main south Minneapolis thoroughfare and continued burning for hours, officials said.

About 50 residents from the 5600 block of Lyndale Avenue S. have been displaced, and minor injuries were reported to two firefighters and a civilian, said Assistant Fire Chief Melanie Rucker.

Fire officials have yet to address a preliminary cause for the blaze.

According to the Fire Department:

Fire crews were dispatched shortly before 11:30 p.m. in response to a garage on fire with several vehicles inside. Flames from the fully engulfed garage spread to two adjacent structures, a three-story residential building and a short-term residential motel.

Firefighters got all of the residents out of the buildings and eventually went exclusively to an exterior attack on the blaze, given its size.

“The garage and cars burned completely to the ground,” a Fire Department statement said. “There was a roof collapse of the three-story residential apartment building and a partial roof collapse of the residential motel.”

Fire crews left once they were confident that all the flames were doused but returned to extinguish a rekindling in one of the motel units.

One resident was treated at the scene and taken by emergency medical responders to HCMC for a respiratory problem. Two firefighters were hospitalized for injuries to their joints.

The Red Cross and the Salvation Army were assisting the residents affected by the fire.