Fire Hits Hibbing Apartment Building; Deadly Fire in Superior

HIBBING, Minn. (AP) — Around 70 emergency responders spent much of their Thanksgiving Day fighting a two-alarm fire at a Hibbing apartment building.

A neighbor told the fire department that flames were shooting out of the first floor of the two-story building around 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

The Hibbing Daily Tribune  reports that two adults and one child were inside but escaped. They were taken to a hospital for evaluation.

Fire Chief Erik Jankila says firefighters soon pulled out of the building because it was too dangerous and focused on keeping the fire contained.  Around 7:30 p.m. — after nearly five hours— crews began to question the integrity of the fire-damaged, water-soaked structure and called in the city's public works crew to tear it down.

The cause of the fire has not been determined.

A man was killed in a house fire near Superior, Wisconsin early Thanksgiving Day. Douglas County authorities said 28-year-old Zebulun Downey was found in the basement of his home and it appears he was trying to put out the fire when he collapsed.  Several other family members escaped unharmed.

Officials said the lower part of the two-story house was engulfed in flames when fire-fighters arrived about 1:30 a.m.  Deputies said the blaze spread so quickly, that the building collapsed within about 15 minutes. Crews stayed on the scene until about mid-afternoon so they could recover Downey's body.

There was no immediate word on what caused the fire.