Liberty Township Home Found Fully Engulfed, Collapses Into Basement

A single-story home on the 16000 block of Cardinal Road NW in Liberty Township was already partially collapsed into its basement when Bemidji firefighters arrived Friday morning, leaving crews no choice but to fight the blaze from the outside as the structure burned to its foundation.

The Bemidji Fire Department received the call at approximately 10:40 a.m. on March 6, responding to the address roughly 15 miles north of Bemidji. What they found on arrival precluded any interior attack: the home was fully involved in fire and the building had partially given way into the basement below.

According to a release from Bemidji Fire Chief Justin Sherwood, crews initiated a defensive attack and deployed a 1-3/4-inch attack line to begin knocking down the fire. As mutual aid arrived and additional personnel staged on scene, further attack lines were put into operation until the fire was eventually extinguished. The entire operation kept 27 firefighters and nine pieces of equipment on Cardinal Road NW for approximately four hours.

The building and its contents were deemed a total loss. No firefighter injuries were reported.

Five agencies supported the Bemidji Fire Department at the scene: Bemidji Ambulance Service, the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office, Beltrami Electric Cooperative, the Minnesota State Fire Marshal's Office, and the American Red Cross. The presence of the Red Cross suggests displaced residents may have needed emergency assistance, though the department's release did not specify the number of occupants affected. The Minnesota State Fire Marshal's Office, which routinely assists in determining cause and origin, also responded.

No cause has been publicly identified in the release issued by Chief Sherwood, and the status of the fire investigation was not detailed in the department's statement.