Painter seriously injured in Prospect Park house fire
Minneapolis firefighters respond to a fire Thursday, June 15, 2023, on Barton Avenue Southeast in the city's Prospect Park neighborhood. (KSTP)
UPDATE 6/17: The Minneapolis Fire Department confirmed on Saturday that the victim in the fire died from his injuries.
A man is in the hospital with severe injuries after he was caught in a burning triplex Thursday afternoon in the Prospect Park neighborhood of Minneapolis.
Around 1:44 p.m., firefighters responded to a fire at a three-story home at the intersection of Barton and Malcom avenues after a neighbor reported hearing an explosion, Minneapolis Fire Chief Brian Tyner said.
A victim was found unconscious and burned in the driveway. He was a painting contractor working in the third floor of the building at the time of the fire, according to the fire department.
Three residents were brought out of the building without injuries. The painter is in critical condition at Hennepin County Medical Center, Tyner said.
The fire extended throughout the second and third floors and penetrated the roof; the fire department says it activated a second alarm to bring more firefighters to the scene. Fire crews doused the building from above to extinguish the blaze, but the home was deemed uninhabitable.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.