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Firefighters Battle Flames In S. Mpls Pizza Shop

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Minneapolis firefighters said they spent more than 10 hours getting control of a three-alarm fire in a building that's home to two businesses on the city's south side before it was finally out Friday morning.

The Minneapolis Fire Department said crews responded to the fire on 5340 Lyndale Avenue South just before 6 p.m. Thursday. When they arrived, all the occupants of the one-story building were outside, and flames and smoke were coming off the building.

None of the occupants were injured. However, one firefighter suffered a fall during the battle, and an ambulance took him to the Hennepin County Medical Center. His condition is stable, the department said.

Crews initially attacked the fire from the inside of the building, which houses the decades-old Beeks Pizza and Diamond Lake Rental. The intensity of the fire then forced crews to attack it from the outside.

At that point, a second alarm was called. The fire didn't extend beyond the start building, but more help was needed to fight it.

Witnesses said flames shot up to 30 feet in the air and that one could smell smoke from six blocks away.

When the fire continued to grow in the building, a third alarm was sounded. Resources were again needed as the freezing weather was affecting firefighters and their equipment, the department said.

According to the Beeks Pizza website, the family-owned shop traces its roots back to 1953.

How the fire started is not yet known. Authorities are investigating.

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