An overnight house fire in Carver County killed two people and critically injured a third, police said Saturday.
Officers responded to an emergency call around 2:20 a.m. Saturday in the 11000 block of County Road 20 in Watertown Township, about 40 minutes west of Minneapolis, and found a home fully engulfed in flames. Firefighters found two bodies inside the house.
A third person was found outside with burns, according to the Carver County Sheriff's Office. That person was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in critical condition.
The cause of the fire, which is being investigated by several agencies, has not yet been determined. The victims' names are being withheld until family members are notified.
The two deaths mark Minnesota's 18th and 19th fire fatalities of the year. Fire-related deaths spiked last year, claiming the lives of 57 Minnesotans, compared with 44 in 2014, according to data from the state fire marshal.
Unattended cooking and heating are the leading culprits for residential fires, while careless smoking is the chief cause of fire deaths.
Liz Sawyer • 612-673-4648
