Fast-moving fire destroys garage, damages 2 homes
Neighbors say it felt like a series of explosions when a fire leveled a garage and damaged homes on Regent Avenue in Brooklyn Center. Ronewicz Yang lives in the house where the fire started. His sister had just come home from high school and spotted the fire first. "When I came out the garage was on fire and everything so I just called an ambulance or fire trucks," says Yang. "Soon as I called the cops it got really big." The family had just enough time to get a car out of the garage before the flames took over. One neighbor heard the fire from two doors down. "Three or four great big booms. Like a big explosion or something," says neighbor Arla Kroger. "I looked out my bedroom window and I saw the flames shooting up." The Hennepin County Fire Investigation Team is looking into the cause of the fire. At this point, investigators don't know what sparked the fire that they say started outside the garage, however, they have ruled out arson. While the cause is still a mystery, Brooklyn Center Fire Chief Lee Gatlin says he might know how that fire spread so fast. He says inside the garage were several small propane tanks the family used for cooking. "They probably contributed to the fire accelerating as fast as it did," says Chief Gatlin. "The garage was consumed very fast. It was consumed in a matter of minutes" The fire destroyed part of the house and the intense heat damaged siding on the house next door. But neighbors say it could have been worse. "As far as I know everybody's safe," says next door neighbor Michelle Mares, "which is the good thing." Seven people live in the house where the fire started. Four were home at the time and all were able to get out safely. The family is working with the Red Cross to find a temporary place to stay. Extensive damage to the kitchen makes the house uninhabitable. Renee Banot http://www.ccxmedia.org/ / ccxmedia.org / ccxnews 12 News is on Comcast cable channel 12 in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis and includes the cities Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, New Hope, Osseo, Plymouth and Robbinsdale.
