Four Alarm Apartment Fire leaves 200 Homeless

Multiple fire agencies worked late into the night to battle a massive apartment fire in the 12000 block of Parkwood Drive in Burnsville Monday. According to officials, the flames broke out around 4 p.m. at the Burncliff Manor Apartments. There are two apartment buildings that make up the complex, both of which were evacuated, however only one building was affected. Some people were barely dressed for the cold weather when authorities alerted them to leave the building. "Somebody came and knocked on the door and said there was a fire. That was it. I don't really know what happened...they told me I had to live," said one resident. There were 64 units in the building, now a complete loss. It was the home to 190 people, according to Burnsville Police Sgt. Dan Carlson. "When the department got here, they found the second floor burning at that time. The fire had basically taken over the entire building of 64 units. All 64 units are going to be a total loss. We're working to protect the other adjacent buildings," said Carlson. Carlson predicted crews would have at least a 10-hour job ahead of them. Carlson said crews have been working in shifts, giving them time to warm up on buses. Subzero temperatures proved to be a challenge for the 120 firefighters from the Eagan, Apple Valley, Lakeville, Savage, and Bloomington departments, but their equipment functioned properly throughout the night. At 9:45 p.m., firefighters were able to enter the building and extinguish hot spots. While the cause of the blaze remains under investigation by the Burnsville Fire Marshal, George Ung, who was visiting one of the residents, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the fire broke out in a third floor laundry room. He said he noticed smoke coming from some electrical sockets and tried to pull several cords out from the sockets, but before he could finish, smoke alarms were sounding and Ung and his friend tried to alert other residents. "We went pounding on everyone's door saying, 'Get out of the building,'" Ung said. The Twin Cities Red Cross sent more than 20 volunteers to the scene to help the now homeless residents, who were loaded on to buses and transported to Burnsville High School, which has since been converted into a shelter. Members from 19 families will spend the night in the school's gymnasium and will work with the Red Cross on Tuesday to find a more permanent shelter. "What I have on me is what I have now. I have nothing left, nothing," said victim Christopher Rilea. "Right now I'm emotionally numb. I don't know where to go, what to do." Disaster health and stress teams are assisting the victims, according to Red Cross spokesperson Carrie Nolan. The Salvation Army also responded, bringing food and hydration for responders and residents. Amazingly, no injuries have been reported. Earlier during the day, the sheer amount of agency vehicles that surrounded the complex along Highway 13, near Interstate 35W and Highway 77, had brought rush hour traffic to a standstill. Liveleak requires flash. If you see this message, make sure you have the latest flash player installed. To install the latest version, click HERE var so_40808 = new SWFObject('mp.swf','mpl','445','363','7'); so_40808.addParam('allowfullscreen','true'); so_40808.addParam('wmode','transparent'); so_40808.addVariable('config','http://www.liveleak.com/flash_config.php?file_embed_tag=daaf20055f07&autostart=false'); so_40808.write('daaf20055f07.40808'); Download Video Video not displaying? Free PC scan for latest video drivers

LiveLeak | December 23, 2008

Tags:. .ung. .eagan. .parkwood. .lakeville. .burnsville