Minnesota
Related: About this forumCedar - Riverside building explosion, fire
There's a thread about this in Late Breaking News at : http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014685880
I've been taking it upon myself to update it -- I check the Minneapolis news page twice a day, sometimes more at
http://news.yahoo.com/local/Minneapolis-12781882.html
The latest as of noon Friday is that a second body has been found. Neither body has been identified (or the identifies hasn't been released, not sure which).
gopiscrap
(23,765 posts)progree
(10,918 posts)inside the building. The gas utility, Centerpoint Energy, has checked things out on their end (the lines outside leading into the building) and say they've found no problems. I see very little speculation about any other causes, the fire chief says there is no evidence of any kind of bomb.
Some message board commenters presumed early on that maybe the mosque was targeted, but the mosque is in the white building next door
http://goo.gl/maps/InTEk
gopiscrap
(23,765 posts)and not a hate crime!
progree
(10,918 posts)http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/01/04/third-person-dies-in-minn-apartment-explosion/
The Hennepin County Medical Examiners office said Saturday that 29-year-old Abdiqani Adan died at the Hennepin County Medical Center on Friday afternoon. He did not live in the building.
Fire officials said Friday they believe they have accounted for all victims of Wednesdays explosion and fire, after recovering the bodies of two people from the buildings charred ruins. The first victim was identified Friday as Ahmed Farah Ali, a 57-year-old resident of one of the apartments. His body was recovered from the site Thursday. A second body was recovered Friday but has not yet been identified. (( Another news source says family and friends have identified the second body as Ali's roomate, Mrimri Farah ))
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In case anyone was wondering, Palmer's Bar (which is next to the mosque, which in turn is next to the now demolished grocery/apartments building) maintained its heating but lost its electricity until around 2 pm January 4, and opened for business a couple hours later.
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A Long Road Ahead For Victims Of Apt. Fire, January 3, 2014 8:34 PM
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/01/03/a-long-road-ahead-for-victims-of-apt-fire/
Dr. Ryan Fey at Hennepin County Medical Center says they have three patients still in critical condition.
Burn injuries are among the most painful injuries that one can suffer from. So pain management is a significant part of what we do, Fey said. ... part of the problem is that healing takes a lot of time, and there are often many complications.
Nothing fast happens with major burn injuries, and they have a lot of ups and downs, and rarely do large burns recover without encountering some problems along the way, he said.
((Some others were taken to other hospitals, I don't know their condition))
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A local TV news report at 530 pm said the cause of the explosion is still unknown.
progree
(10,918 posts)occupied it. The cars on the street remind me of Havana.
http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/web5/media.php?irn=10196646&width=640
Sorry no more news about the survivors of the fire or the condition / plans for the mosque next door.
Jenoch
(7,720 posts)glinda
(14,807 posts)progree
(10,918 posts)No news about the cause of the fire in a long time. (I just did a Google News search to see if there's anything new). However, I found these two old stories to be interesting, from the Star Tribune 1/3/14 (2 days after the fire), and 1/9/14 (8 days after the fire):
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ http://www.startribune.com/local/238536431.html
(excerpts)
Fire Chief John Fruetel said investigators were focusing on natural gas as a likely cause of the explosion that ignited the fire in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, although he said that weeks of investigation likely will be required to determine the cause.
However, a spokeswoman for CenterPoint Energy strongly discounted gas as the culprit.
We had no natural gas in the area, said Rebecca Virden, who based her assertion on the utilitys investigation and testing in the area. If the blast were due to were natural gas, Virden added, the roof would come off, the walls would come out.
If a gas were involved, she said, it could be a different type of gas.
Asked about CenterPoints denial, Fruetel said, Im just basing it on what my investigators say.
He said that witness accounts of a natural gas smell and the type of explosion suggest gas was involved. He said that investigators early on ruled out an explosive device, despite the presence of Department of Homeland Security personnel on Wednesday.
{{ Another story: }} "Fire Chief John Fruetel said ... because of the nature of the debris field and because some witnesses spoke of an odor, investigators were focusing on a gas explosion as a possibility.
Minneapolis mosque damaged in Cedar-Riverside fire seeks a home, Star Tribune, 1/9/14
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http://www.startribune.com/local/239524881.html?page=all
(excerpt) The cause remains under investigation, said Chuck Brynteson, Minneapolis Fire Department assistant chief.
A spokeswoman for CenterPoint Energy said last week that a preliminary analysis detected no leaks in the utilitys gas network; she has since directed questions to the Fire Department.
A witness reported smelling gas before the explosion, Fire Chief John Fruetel said at a news conference just after the fire.
Other survivors, including two who spoke to the Star Tribune from their hospital beds, said they did not smell natural gas before the blast.
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So.... the Fire Chief in the earlier stories indicated "some witnesses", then in the 1/9 story it says he said "a witness" at a news conference just after the fire. And in the 1/9 story, "Other survivors, including two who spoke to the Star Tribune from their hospital beds, said they did not smell natural gas before the blast." (Of course, that some didn't smell natural gas doesn't mean there wasn't natural gas in some part of the building that caused the explosion).
I find it interesting too that the Centerpoint Energy spokesperson, after disagreeing with the fire department in the 1/3 story, is now directing questions to the fire department. Hmmm.
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Nothing more on the victims than what is in post 4.
Cedar hosting benefit concert for New Year's Day fire victims
The Cedar Cultural Center, Augsburg College and KFAI radio are holding a benefit concert Friday, Jan. 24 at the Cedar to raise money for victims of the New Year's Day fire at the apartment building at 516 Cedar Ave. S. ... MORE: http://www.southwestjournal.com/news-feed/cedar-hosting-benefit-concert-for-new-years-day-fire-victims
And yes, #6, I do know and knew that the cars in the picture in #5 were newer than late 1950s models. I was merely commenting on the time travel aspect of the picture, in analogizing it to Havana, not saying they were old as American cars in Havana.
glinda
(14,807 posts)definitively on the final cause. Very hushed IMHO.