A Grand Portage family escaped safely from a house fire but lost all of their possessions when the house burned.
Two adults and four children were at home when a fire started in the basement of the house located on Store Road.
Cook County Law Enforcement Center received a 9-1-1 call at 11:49 p.m. on Saturday, December 28, reporting the blaze.
The call to law enforcement was made from a friend’s house after the family had escaped.
The caller reported that everyone in the family – two adults and four children – got out of the house okay.
Multiple responders from Grand Portage, Hovland, and Colvill volunteer firefighting squads were called to the scene. When the firefighters got to the structure, they noticed smoke coming from all sides of the residence. After a while, flames were visibly coming from the bottom right corner of the basement near the stove and hot water heater. Firefighters worked until 3:30 a.m. to put the fire out.
The state fire marshal was contacted and will investigate the house fire, but no arson is suspected.
The next day there was a report that the house was on fire again. One neighbor saw flames coming from the windows. Once again, the three volunteer firefighting squads were called to the scene, and the fire was extinguished around noon. The next night, December 29, there was another call to the house to extinguish some smoldering embers.
A collection is being taken for clothes and other items that can aid the family. They can be dropped off at the Cook County Sheriff ’s Office in Grand Marais and Mount Rose Church in Grand Portage.
Clothing sizes for the two 2-year-old twins are: boy, size 5T and girl, size 6T. Teenage girl wears size 12 clothes with shoe size 9. The 9-year-old girl wears size 5 pants, large shirts and shoes 6 or 6.5.
Adult female wears size 13 clothes with a shoe size 8. Adult male wears pants size 36/38, extra-large shirts, and shoe size 12.
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