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Electrical Short Likely Caused Mahnomen Apt. Fire

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Firefighters from as many as 10 departments battled a large fire Friday morning at a small apartment complex in Mahnomen County, authorities said.

According to KFGO-AM, Crews responded to the fire on Main Street in Mahnomen at about 2:30 a .m. The blaze was at what used to be a barbershop in the small town, and the building now has apartments on two stories. Mahnomen County Sheriff Doug Krier said authorities got a call from tenants living in the building who had smelled smoke. By the time crews got to the scene, some of the tenants were already out of the building.

Krier said nobody was hurt in the fire and all tenants are in a safe, warm place. But three families are displaced as a result.

Late Friday afternoon, authorities reported that an electrical short likely caused the fire.

Firefighters were working in extremely tough conditions, trying to put the fire out in wind chills as cold as 20 degrees below zero. Authorities said fire crews were also pouring water on nearby buildings to keep the fire from spreading.

Several Crews Battling Large Fire In Mahnomen

Several Crews Battling Apartment Fire In Mahnomen

Krier said that side of the street was "one big block of ice." He said the building probably dates back to the early 1900s and said it's mostly a wood structure, which is why it went up in flames so quickly. It took crews about three hours to knock down the flames.

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