Minneapolis fire kills 3 adults, 3 children

Published 12:00 am Saturday, April 3, 2010

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Six people, including three children, died Friday after a fire swept through a two-story building in Minneapolis that included several apartments and an Irish pub, authorities said.

One woman died at a hospital early Friday, then the bodies of two men and three children were recovered from the building throughout the day, city fire officials said. The victims’ names have not been released. Authorities said they don’t believe anyone else died in the fire.

Firefighters said the blaze broke out about 6 a.m. and they arrived to find heavy flames and smoke coming out of the building, which housed McMahon’s Pub on the first floor and six apartments on the second. By Friday afternoon, the roof had collapsed.

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The fire began in a second-floor apartment, but the cause hasn’t been determined, said John Fruetel, assistant chief of the Minneapolis Fire Department.

Rosie Bell, 21, a bartender and server at McMahon’s Pub, said she was worried about another bartender who lived above the pub and was missing.

‘‘He’s not going to be found. They are going to find a body and we’re going to have a funeral,’’ said Bell, who was crying as her friends consoled her outside the building.

Authorities found eight violations during a fire code inspection March 15 on the commercial part of the building. Among them, the pub’s fire alarm system hadn’t been tested in more than a year, and there weren’t enough fire extinguishers, said Minneapolis Fire Marshal Bryan Tyner.

The owners had until March 30 to fix the violations. Tyner said his office hadn’t yet gone back to see if changes had been made. The residential portion of the building was due for an inspection, he said.

The Twin Cities chapter of the American Red Cross was helping eight adults and five children displaced by the fire, said spokeswoman Carrie Carlson. She said the group would put them up in a hotel for the weekend, help them replace medications and provide food and clothing.

Dave Olson, 40, said he lived in the neighborhood and came by to see what was left of the building.

‘‘The really horrible part is that there are people missing. A bar can be rebuilt,’’ Olson said.