2 injured in downtown Minneapolis fire

Minneapolis firefighters arrived at a building downtown on Sunday afternoon to find flames shooting eight feet out the window of a third-floor apartment.

Fire Chief John Fruetel said crews were initially called to investigate reports of smoke at the apartment building at 610 8th St. S. One firefighter was injured with a minor back injury and one resident was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center with unknown injuries.

The building's entrance was in the rear, which required firefighters to lay multiple lines from the street.

"It was a lot of work and physically challenging," Fruetel said. "A large building like that, with a large fire, fire crews did a very good job."

The fire damaged apartments on the third and fourth floors, Fruetel said. Much of the rest of the building sustained damage from smoke, and apartments directly above and below the affected unit were damaged by water.

Crews evacuated residents from the building's 40 units, 38 of which were occupied. Fruetel said residents hadn't returned to their homes as of Monday morning.

In related news, a north Minneapolis commercial building was demolished following a fire on Saturday evening. The fire broke out in the basement of the building on southeast corner of Fremont Avenue and Lowry Avenue. No one was injured.