Prompts winter weather advisories as cold air moves in Friday night

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support


Multiple tents caught fire Monday at a Minneapolis homeless encampment but the fire department said much of the fire was extinguished quickly. One person was treated for smoke inhalation.

https://twitter.com/maxnesterak/status/1064640595656933376


Fire Chief John Fruetel said about eight to 10 tents were destroyed. While he said the fire's cause was under investigation, he pleaded with people to not have open flames in tents.


"They found out today these tents burn very quickly," Fruetel told reporters, adding that he's long been concerned about the potential for disaster at the camp. 

"The city's offered up shelter for these folks," he said. "I wish they would take it."


Hundreds of mostly Native American people have been camped out for months along Hiawatha Avenue in south Minneapolis as officials and advocates look for ways to help people there 

Angela Senogles-Bowen, a Leech Lake tribal member who's lived at the camp for several months, said people at the camp fought one fire in an unoccupied tent with extinguishers and bottled water until the fire department arrived.


She said she saw "tents starting to go up" and grabbed a fire extinguisher.

"I saw the other guys went running over there to start pulling stuff away from the tents. And somebody else came out with another fire extinguisher," she said. "So, we used the two fire extinguishers to get the flames controlled all around the tent."


Jenny Bjorgo, the camp outreach coordinator for Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center, said she heard loud pops apparently from an exploding propane canister. She saw the fire and people running and started knocking on other tent "to make sure everybody got out ... because I feared that it was just going to go."


The city recently agreed to spend $1.5 million to build an emergency shelter on property nearby owned by the Red Lake Nation. Officials hope to have it ready by early December to house about 150 people through winter. 

 were erected to give people at the camp a place to warm up.

https://twitter.com/maxnesterak/status/1064649750572658688

Crime, Law and Justice

Social Issues

Shows

Morning Edition

NewsPartners

Tim Nelson

Author

Max Nesterak

Multiple tents caught fire Monday at a homeless encampment but the Minneapolis Fire Department said much of the fire was extinguished quickly and one person was treated for smoke inhalation.

Fire burns tents at Minneapolis homeless camp; 1 treated

Go Deeper.

Like this?