Minneapolis house fire Sunday evening injures 3 firefighters

A Sunday evening house fire displaced four people and injured three firefighters, according to the Minneapolis Fire Department.

At 5:14 p.m. Minneapolis fire crews responded to ablaze at a one-and-a-half-story home near East 55th Street and 32nd Avenue South.

"As you can feel from the wind here tonight, which is gusting about 40 mph, that wind drove the fire right into the building," Deputy Chief Kathleen Mullen said.

A neighbor called 911 reporting seeing fire out of the back of the single-family home and simultaneously went over to knock on the door as the residents "were unaware that their home was on fire." All escaped out of the back with one of the cats, Mullen said.

Crews were inside when a collapse in one corner of the building in the back of the house trapped three firefighters under a "large section" of roofing. Mullen said it appeared that a support beam holding up the single-story roof had fallen.

All three were rescued by crews on scene and taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries, according to the fire department, and firefighters called for a second alarm for more equipment and personnel. They then pivoted, pulling all personnel out of the building, and attacked the exterior of the home, knocking down the bulk of the fire.

Searches of the home were complete by 6 p.m. and the Red Cross was called for two adults, two children and two cats, according to the fire department. Fire crews provided oxygen for one of the cats on scene. The house was declared uninhabitable.

"Asking everybody to keep our firefighters in their thoughts and in their prayers tonight," Mullen said.

The fire’s cause is under investigation.