Photo from St. Cloud Times
ST. CLOUD, Minn. - Lightning is being blamed as the cause of a fire that damaged an apartment building on the southeast side of St. Cloud early Tuesday.
Firefighters were called to 1526-16th Avenue Southeast just after 2:30 a.m. and immediately encountered flames jumping from the roof and attic.
Residents from all seven rented units in the building were able to escape safely before fire crews arrived. The Red Cross is assisting them with food and shelter.
The building is one of 17 in the Forestview Apartments complex. Northern Management owns 15 of them. The buildings were constructed in 1968 and 1969.
Fire crews from St. Cloud and a number of nearby departments were on the scene well into the morning removing insulation from the roof and knocking down hot spots.
Damage estimates are not yet available, but it appears that only the roof and attic were physically impacted.
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