Large fire at 3-story Minneapolis apartment complex injures residents, firefighters

A fire in an apartment complex late Tuesday in south Minneapolis caused a number of injuries and sent firefighters to balconies to rescue two residents, officials said.

The blaze broke out about 10:20 p.m. at the three-story Woodhaven Apartments on S. Lyndale Avenue between W. 60th and 61st streets, the Fire Department said.

Roughly 25 to 30 apartment units were deemed uninhabitable after the blaze, fire officials said. The Red Cross was called to assist those residents.

Fire crews needed several hours to extinguish the flames. Officials have not released a cause for the fire.

The Fire Department said the nearly 50-year-old privately operated building did not have a sprinkler system, and its standpipes failed to work. Standpipe systems provide firefighters an ample source of water within a burning building.

The building is owned by Centerspace, based in Minot, N.D., which has other rental properties throughout the Twin Cities and other nearby communities in Minnesota, as well as in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Centerspace spokeswoman Kelly Weber issued a statement that read, "We are diligent in ensuring compliance with all applicable codes and regulations. ... Woodhaven Apartments complies with the fire safety codes under which the property was constructed. In addition, the property completed its one-year and five-year inspection of fire prevention systems, including the standpipes, on January 27 of this year and all testing was successful."

City spokeswoman Sarah McKenzie confirmed that the building "follows the fire code in effect at the time of construction, which did not require sprinkler systems," she wrote in an email. "This building is not required to add sprinkler system retroactively to conform to the current fire code or building code."

McKenzie said if the building is condemned, in addition to whatever corrections are ordered, it "will be required to conform with the current building code before a new Certificate of Occupancy may be issued."

According to the Fire Department:

Fire crews arrived to find smoke and flames coming from two balconies on the first and second floors on the east side of the building, and a car caught fire in a nearby parking lot. Flames also made their way to the third floor.

Some residents needing assistance due to disabilities were among those whom firefighters helped get out of the building, including two occupants who were rescued from their balconies by firefighters on ladders. A third resident was led out from a smoke-filled hall.