A 23-year-old Cloquet man was dragged out of a home on the Fond du Lac Reservation early Sunday morning by emergency personnel who said he had started the house on fire and refused to leave.
"He most decidedly didn't want to leave that house," Cloquet Police Cpl. Mark Laine said. "He said, 'Let me burn up.' "
Fond du Lac Police were called to 1794 Coffey Road in Cloquet at
4:38 a.m. on a report of a man who had reportedly broken a window to get inside and said he was going to cut his wrists.
When police arrived, they found flames shooting out of the house, Laine said.
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Cloquet Police Sgt. Carey Ferrell attempted to enter the house to find the man. No one else was in the home at the time and when Ferrell saw the man on the floor with a knife nearby, Ferrell was able to throw it out of reach. He wasn't able to get the man out, however.
When firefighters from the Cloquet Area Fire District arrived, Ferrell went back in with a firefighter and they were able to grab him by the feet and drag him outside, Laine said.
"He was fighting," he said. "He was yelling outside the house, 'Leave me alone.' "
Ferrell was taken to Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet and treated for smoke inhalation, Laine said.
The 23-year-old man also was taken to the Cloquet hospital, treated for smoke inhalation and wrist injuries. He was then transferred to St. Luke's Hospital for psychiatric care, said Cloquet Police Chief Wade Lamirande.
Cloquet Police officers had been searching for the man several hours earlier after his girlfriend reported that he had stolen her purse and refused to let her call 911 after an altercation at a Cloquet bar, Laine said.
Police had not found him before they were dispatched to the home on Coffey Road. Both he and his girlfriend, who have two children together, had been staying there recently, Laine said.
It's unclear exactly who was living in the home at the time, but the Northland Chapter of the American Red Cross officials said in a news release Monday they are assisting one adult, a 5-year-old child and an 8-month-old infant.
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Laine said the home was still standing but completely destroyed.
"I don't know what he used to start the fire," he said. "But that house went up quick."
Police and fire officials are investigating and possible criminal charges against the man are pending.
