Fire damages downtown St. Paul Lunds & Byerlys

A fire early Tuesday heavily damaged the exterior of the Lunds & Byerlys grocery store in downtown St. Paul.

Video posted on social media showed flames shooting out of the entrance of the store at E. 10th and Robert streets and debris raining down on adjacent sidewalks.

Sprinklers were working at the time of the fire, which led to water damage inside the store, according to Aaron Sorenson, a spokesman for the upscale grocery chain.

"The store will be temporarily closed until further notice as we work to repair the damage," he said.

A St. Paul police officer noticed a fire in several trash bins on the south side of the store about 2 a.m., police spokesman Steve Linders said.

The fire had engulfed the trash cans, making it unsafe for the officer to get close enough to use a fire extinguisher, Linders said.

"The officer could feel the heat from the dancing flames all the way out in the street," he said.

About the same time, fire crews were returning to a station after handling a different call when they noticed smoke in the 100 block of 10th Street. That is when they found the store burning, said Roy Mokosso, a St. Paul Fire Department spokesman.

The blaze was contained to the exterior of the building and did not extend into apartments above the store, Mokosso said.

Some pieces of the canopy fell to the ground, Linders said.

No injuries were reported, he added.

It was not immediately clear how the fire started. Investigators are working to determine if the fires in the trash bins were connected to the grocery story fire, Mokosso said.

The store is working to provide video surveillance to the Fire Department to help with the investigation, Sorenson said.

No arrests have been made, Linders said.