Fire displaces five from south Minneapolis duplex

A fire engulfed a duplex home in south Minneapolis on Thursday afternoon, displacing five people after the building was deemed uninhabitable.

The Minneapolis Fire Department responded just after 12:15 p.m. to the two-and-a-half story home in the 2200 block of S. Elliot Avenue. Crews found heavy smoke and fire on the first floor, and the five residents were out of the building when crews arrived, according to the department news release.

The fire spread to the second floor, the attic and burned through the roof. The growing flames led to a second alarm being called for extra fire personnel. Crews searched the rest of the building and determined no one else was inside.

It took about two hours to get the fire under control and extinguished, according to Assistant Chief of Administration Melanie Rucker. The department has not determined the cause of the fire, and officials are still investigating.

A Metro Transit bus was brought in to provide temporary shelter for the two adults and three children who were displaced so they could stay warm. The building will be boarded up, and the American Red Cross was called to provide temporary housing assistance to the five people. One firefighter was taken to a local hospital for evaluation for a minor shoulder injury, Rucker said.

The building is expected to be boarded. Rucker said the department has not noticed an increase in fires reported amid the intense cold weather over the past week.

"There's been nothing unusual yet, so hopefully it remains like that, especially with the holidays and the cold," Rucker said.