4 hospitalized in Minneapolis apartment building fire near U.S. Bank Stadium

MINNEAPOLIS — Four people are in serious condition after a three-alarm fire tore through a downtown Minneapolis apartment building overnight Wednesday.

The Minneapolis Fire Department says crews first arrived at the scene Tuesday at about 9:42 p.m. on the corner of South 11th Street and East 15th Avenue in the Elliot Park neighborhood, about four blocks south of U.S. Bank Stadium.

Assistant Fire Chief Melanie Rucker says crews found the fire on the third floor, and firefighters used ladders to "rescue several residents that were hanging out of their apartment window in the rear of the building."

Rucker says two adults and a teenager were hospitalized with burns, and another adult was treated for smoke inhalation.

WCCO spoke with a resident soon after he was reunited with his dog.

"Our family dog Coco, our brown Labrador, was in the fire for about two hours, two and a half hours maybe. We kind of sadly kind of almost gave up, and you know, we're just praying, hoping to see her again," said resident Hokiscala Cante Ma Yuha Metcalf. "But as of 15 minutes ago, she came out. And apparently, there's no wheezing, no lung problems. They gave her the oxygen tank for a long time there and she's pretty responsive, so I'm pretty thankful for that."

Two buses and the Red Cross were called in to help evacuated residents. There is no word yet on how the fire started.