DULUTH — Residents of a 12-unit, three-story apartment building in the Observation Hill neighborhood were displaced by a fire late Monday.
Duluth Fire Department crews responded to the call on the 600 block of West Second Street at 10:14 p.m. after a resident woke to a smoke detector on the floor below where she was sleeping, a fire department news release said Tuesday.
The resident called 911 and evacuated the building. The apartment is located just off Mesaba Avenue and within blocks of the Duluth Fire Department headquarters. Firefighters were on the scene within two minutes, and Duluth police assisted in evacuating the remaining 11 units of the building.
The reporting resident was transported by ambulance to a local hospital to be treated for possible smoke inhalation. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries and two cats perished in the fire.
One unit was heavily damaged by the fire and other units had smoke damage. All residents were displaced.
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Preliminary damage estimates are $200,000 to the building and $50,000 to contents, the fire department said.
The Duluth Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire.
Fire crews from headquarters, Lincoln Park, Spirit Valley, the University of Minnesota Duluth and Duluth Heights stations responded to the fire, along with Comfort Systems and Minnesota Power crews assisting with gas and electrical issues.
This story was updated at 8 a.m. May 3, 2022, to correct the neighborhood. It was originally posted at 7:45 a.m., May 3, 2022.
