Fire Destroys 4 Homes In Otsego Development

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Wednesday's record heat and blustery winds are fueling multiple fires across the metro.

In Otsego, four homes were destroyed. Homeowners watched their dreams go up in flames as fires spread within a housing development near 53rd Street and Radford Avenue Northeast.

Chris Klabunde was hoping to call the River Pointe Development home. Her house was still under construction, but just Wednesday afternoon, they were talking about setting a closing date. Twenty minutes after that meeting, she got a frantic call from her son.

"I though it was an April Fools' joke," she said. "But I could tell in his voice -- he was screaming -- and he said, 'The new house is on fire, you need to come back.' By the time we got here it was just about gone."

Two of the homes were under construction. A roaring fire, aided by 40 mile per hour winds, took down two other homes, where families had moved in just months ago.

Weston Eckroth and his family moved into their new home on 59th Street in December. He had just picked up his kids from daycare, when his wife called with tragic news.

"We had lots of photos, memories in there that we may not be able to retrieve," he said. "Where do you go from now?"

No one was hurt in the fires, but one family did lose two dogs.

Brad Gauck lives nextdoor to the Eckroths. Other than heat damage to the side of his house, he got lucky.

"We are right nextdoor, so it makes my heart sink to see these people lose their homes like this," he said.

In these pictures shared by a viewer, you can see big flames shooting from several homes:

In St. Paul, a two-alarm fire destroyed two homes on Wednesday.