Firefighters injured evacuating house fire in northeast Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Four firefighters were assessed for minor injuries following a house fire in northeast Minneapolis Tuesday afternoon. 

Crews were called to the scene of a fire on the 1400 block of 19th Avenue Northeast shortly before 1 p.m. Meanwhile, the homeowner returned from work early Tuesday to find her home on fire.

“When she got here, she saw her siding bubbling and smoke coming out,” said the woman’s father Charlie Parson.

When firefighters arrived to the house, flames had already taken over the basement and first floor.

“The fire was running up through the walls and ended up extended from the basement to the first floor to the second floor and even into the attic,” said Bryan Tyner, Assistant Chief with the Minneapolis Fire Department.

The three occupants of the home - a couple and their young son - weren’t home at the time, but the family’s beloved dog was.

“Cooper was a wonderful black lab and it’s a real shame and they’ve got a fourth grade boy that’s going to be really torn up by this,” Parson said.

Four firefighters were injured during the course of the day, three of whom escaped out of windows after a flashover occurred - a dangerous event in which everything in a room ignites at once.

“That’s a very scary thing because often when you’re too far in there, you don’t survive those flashovers. That’s why those firefighters had to get out in an expeditious manner,” Tyner said.

All were transported to the hospital with minor injuries, and while they’re expected to be okay, it’s another reminder of just how risky this job is.