1 dead, 4 hurt in south Minneapolis house fire

One person died and four others were taken to the hospital after a three-alarm fire early Saturday at a 112-year-old house in south Minneapolis.

Firefighters were called to a 2 1/2-story house at 2812 1st Av. S. at about 4:30 a.m. Saturday, according to Minneapolis Fire Department spokeswoman Cherie Penn. Crews rescued two people from a top-floor window and found three others inside.

One person died at the scene. The other four were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center; fire officials said their conditions were unknown.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Brian Canfield, 33, who lives on the block where the fire broke out, said he heard four or five large blasts early in the morning. "I at first thought it was a shotgun," he said.

But when he looked outside, he saw fire coming out of the first and second stories of the house. The house next door also was damaged, Canfield said.

A family, which included a 16-year-old girl, had been renting the house for about a year, said Cy Ratsamy, the owner of the house and the New Orient Market, which is located a couple of doors down the street.

He said he was unaware of the condition of those in the house. Ratsamy hadn't known the house had caught on fire until he drove to work about 8 a.m., he said.

"I come to work. I pass by, and I see," said Ratsamy, as he stood behind his grocery store counter late Saturday morning.

According to property records, the house was built in 1900.

NICOLE NORFLEET