WINONA, Minn, — Police and then firefighters learned accidentally of a suspicious house fire on Mankato Avenue. The fire was extinguished quickly without injuries. But the origins remained mysterious. The state fire marshal immediately dispatched an investigator. Police on a routine call at Kwik Trip on Broadway overheard a couple talking about a fire a couple blocks away at 410 Mankato. The officers found charred and blackened siding and that the fire had penetrated to wood underneath – as well as signs that somebody had thrown snow at the flames. They called a fire crew. At the residence, a kind of flop house, several people said they didn’t see how the fire started but smelled smoke. One man, who had been in a bathroom, said he felt heat through the wall and smelled smoke and got out of there. This all was about 10:30 a.m
Firefighter details
Verbatim: “Where the fire was has a strong odor of gasoline. On the east side of the house there is a burned scrap piece of carpet and what appears to be a burned soft storage tote. The tenant who discovered the fire was inside the house when he noticed flames outside and extinguished these materials with snow and water. This tenant also was the person who tore siding off to ensure there was no fire extension into the wall of the house. This same tenant also found a butane torch in the vicinity of the fire. On the east side of the house in the yard there is a nozzle from a gas can, the tenant states the gas can appeared at the house recently and he is not sure how it got there, we are also unable to find the rest of the can in the yard.”