The Latest: Mostly singles in apartment tower hit by fire

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Latest on a Minneapolis apartment fire that killed 5 people and hospitalized 3 others (all times local):

9:25 a.m.

The fire that killed five people in a Minneapolis apartment building struck in a public-housing complex mostly inhabited by single people and seniors.

Minneapolis Public Housing spokesman Jeff Horwich says the Cedar High Apartments has only one-bedroom or studio units. Horwich said it’s also unusual for a fire to spread beyond a single unit because the building is concrete, with natural fireproofing that typically keeps a fire from spreading.

The Wednesday morning fire on the building’s 14th floor killed victims in several units.

Horwich and fire officials said residents of the 13th floor and below aren’t being displaced by the fire. Fire officials are checking floors above the fire location for habitability, but Horwich says it’s possible those residents could return later Wednesday.

The genders and ages of the victims and the conditions of the injured were not immediately known, the chief said. A firefighter was being treated for a minor injury.

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7:48 a.m.

Minneapolis fire officials say five people have died and three others are hospitalized after a fire swept through a high-rise apartment building.

Fire Chief John Fruetel says the fire broke out early Wednesday on the 14th floor of the building in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood. Firefighters found heavy smoke on the 16th and 17th floors as residents were evacuated through the building’s stairwells.

Fruetel says a firefighter suffered a minor injury.

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This story has been corrected to reflect the fire chief’s last name is Fruetel, not Frutel.