Officials ID one of two people killed in Minneapolis apartment fire called suspicious

Officials on Friday identified one of two people who died in a recent Minneapolis apartment fire that is being treated as potentially suspicious in origin.

Debbie Leshelle Allen, 59, was found in the rubble Aug. 13 after the apartment fire in the 1500 block of 11th Avenue S. near downtown, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The Examiner’s Office has yet to release the name of the other victim.

Two adults and a teenager suffered burns and were taken to a hospital for treatment, Assistant Fire Chief Melanie Rucker said. Another person was hospitalized for smoke inhalation. Two firefighters were evaluated on the scene for overexertion, but they went back to work, Rucker said.

There were 27 people displaced from the 22-unit building, she said.

The assistant chief said on the day after the blaze that her department was treating the fire as having been intentionally set. The Minnesota Star Tribune on Friday asked police and fire officials for an update into the investigation.

Anyone with information about the fire is being urged by police to contact them by email at policetips@minneapolismn.gov or by calling 612-673-5845. Tips can also be submitted anonymously by calling CrimeStoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477) or at CrimeStoppersMN.org.