Vacuum Cleaner May Have Sparked 2-Alarm Fire in Golden Valley

Crews from six different fire departments, including Golden Valley, responded to a house fire on Chatelain Terrace Thursday afternoon.

Gretchen Felton was home alone when she smelled smoke and saw flames around 3:00.  She called 911, and within minutes, several fire crews responded.

Golden Valley Fire Chief Mark Kuhnly says the fire was extinguished in less than a half hour.

"It seemed a lot longer," Felton says.  "When you're in the situation, it feels like forever."

Felton was not injured and Kuhnly says there is smoke and fire damage, but no official cause.

"When crews got there, there was visible smoke," he says.  "They made entry to the main level, checked for damage and extinguished the fire.  We're just now starting to investigate the cause."

Felton says the fire started in the area of the furnace where a vacuum cleaner that had recently been used was stored.  Fire officials still have not determined the cause or origin of the fire.

The damage to the home isn't visible from the street, and Kuhnly says most house fires are two-alarm incidents.

"With visible smoke, we don't know what we'll have on our hands, so we usually make the call," he says.  "We want to bring in additional firefighters in case we have to rotate them out to prevent exhaustion."

Kuhnly says fire crews from St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Minnetonka, Robbinsdale and Brooklyn Center as well as paramedics from North Memorial Hospital all responded. 

The Salvation Army was also on hand to provide water and snacks to the firefighters and paramedics.