Nearly 800 residents at St. Paul apartment displaced after fire triggers power outage
An early morning fire and power outage at an apartment complex in St. Paul, Minnesota, displaced nearly 800 residents on Sunday.
According to city officials, St. Paul fire crews arrived at the Skyline Tower on 1247 St. Anthony Ave. around 12:23 a.m. They quickly put out a fire on the 12th floor, but were called back minutes later when the building's electrical system failed and activated sprinklers on three floors.
The building's power completely went out, officials say. The heat and water, along with the building's fire suppression systems, alarms and elevators then stopped functioning.
The apartment complex was determined to be uninhabitable, and inspectors revoked the building's certificate of occupancy.
It was a rude awakening for resident Jarvis Jones on Sunday at 2 a.m.
"I was sleeping and started hearing water in the walls," Jones said. "I thought it was kind of an earthquake and I'm like, 'this is odd.' I was hearing kind of trembling, and then the lighting was flickering on and off."
The Red Cross immediately stepped in to help, according to Brice Johnson, the organization's regional CEO.
"We have 50 volunteers from Minnesota, North and South Dakota that have all come together to help serve this response," Johnson said.
As of Wednesday, 544 residents in 301 households are living in hotels across the Twin Cities. About 230 residents found other places to stay.
"The people are being sheltered in places that aren't super local to where they are, and so there's this logistical piece that families are trying to figure out in the midst of this," Johnson said.
Skyline Tower is managed by CommonBond Communities, an affordable housing provider. Though they initially said the fire displaced 1,500 residents, they later corrected their statement to say that the tower is home to 773 residents in 487 households.
More than 100 residents required special assistance to evacuate due to medical conditions. Residents of the building have been provided with temporary lodging, but will not be able to return until utilities and safety systems are restored in the apartment, the mayor's office said.
On Wednesday, many residents were allowed back into their apartments to gather essentials for the first time.
"They're allowing people to come in and grab extra items, clothing, paperwork," Jones said. "People kind of, you know, just at the hotel were sitting around talking, just trying to figure out what's going on."
The investigation continues, as well as damage assessment and repair work.
"There are two sets of work that has to go on," Deidre Schmidt with CommonBond Communities said in a news conference on Monday afternoon. "We are hopeful that with the part availability, we can reestablish building systems operationally so we can move people back in. There will be that third phase, though, for the folks whose units took water damage."
And there's no timeline for when the hundreds of residents will be allowed to return home.
"We're just kind of just putting our faith into the city, officials and everyone, and hopefully that they have our best interest at heart," Jones said.
The city has arranged transportation for everyone, including children. School buses will go to the hotels where kids are staying and pick them up.
Residents can call the city's Emergency Housing Support Line at 651-564-8570.