DULUTH, Minn. — Two Duluth residents are without a home, but are alive to regroup after a police officer helped them off the roof of their burning house early Friday.
Assistant Fire Chief Brent Consie says engines were dispatched to a home on West Linden St. around midnight on reports that a structure was fully engulfed. When firefighters arrived they found significant fire on the front of the home, and learned from police that two residents had made their way to a roof of a porch located on the back side of the building.
One officer retrieved a ladder from the homeowner's garage, set it up and helped the residents to safety. Both were able to walk to a waiting ambulance under their own power to get checked out and were taken to a local hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries.
One Duluth fire company worked to put the flames down while a second conducted a search of the home. One of two pet cats was located, but the second was found deceased.
Actual fire damage was limited to the front porch and part of the first floor, but smoke damage was significant through the entire house. Early damage estimates to the structure are set at $75,000.
Investigators from the Duluth Fire Department and State Fire Marshal's Office are looking into the cause of the fire.
