MINNEAPOLIS — A boutique hotel and restaurant in downtown Minneapolis was evacuated Thursday morning after the building started on fire.
Crews were dispatched to the Canopy Hotel at 708 3rd Street South around 8:15 a.m. after callers reported smoke and a suspected fire. Responding firefighters found smoke and eventually flames in the space between the first floor of the hotel and the basement.
Crews had to open up the basement ceiling to get to the flames, which caused officials on scene to declare a second alarm. The fire was considered under control around 9 a.m.
While an official cause has not been determined, a fire official on scene tells KARE 11 that there has been some construction work on the site, and heat generated busting through concrete may have heated up the wooden timbers enough that a smoldering fire started.
The hotel-restaurant was evacuated during the fire. No one was injured.