MORSE TWP- An as-yet unidentified individual died in a house fire here on Sunday afternoon. While the name of the deceased had not yet been released as of press time, the home, located at 1406 Grant McMahan Blvd., is owned by Carol Lindbeck, according to county records. The blaze was discovered by Steven Brandt and his girlfriend when the two stopped by to visit Lindbeck, an elderly woman who Brandt described as a family friend.
“We arrived close to 1:30 p.m.,” Brandt said at the scene of fire, “and saw the smoke.” Concerned for the elderly Lindbeck, the couple immediately called 911 and the Morse-Fall Lake Fire Department was on the scene within minutes, with Ted Kreuger handling incident command. The Ely and Babbitt fire departments also responded.
A statement from the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office reported that that public safety agencies responded to the fire at 1:18 p.m. The northern St. Louis County dispatch scanner channel broadcasted reports as firefighters entered the burning home through a window to search for Lindbeck, whose location was unknown.
According to the sheriff’s statement, the initial search for Lindbeck was unsuccessful inside the burning and smoke-filled home. “After getting the fire under control, firefighters located a deceased victim inside of the residence,” reported the statement. “Victim identification is pending further investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s Office, Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office and St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office.”
The residence was an older four-bedroom structure on the east end of Shagawa Lake. The home was surrounded by trees at the end of a long unpaved driveway, muddy from melting snow. Timberjay staff observed that the structure was engulfed in smoke by 2 p.m. Fire was visible through windows and along the entire roof line. The amount of smoke made visibility difficult. Access appeared difficult for the firefighting vehicles due to the limited amount of room at the end of the driveway in front of the home.
The home was far from any fire hydrant or city water supply, so firefighters relied on tenders to keep the water flowing. Due to the narrow driveway and limited access to the fire scene, the tenders had to back in down the entire length of the long quarter-mile driveway before emptying into a drop tank.
The tenders refilled at a water source set up where the Shagawa River passes under Grant McMahan. Patrol officers from the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office closed Grant McMahan Blvd. from Pioneer Rd. to Winton Rd. to give the tenders unimpeded room to operate.
The cause has been determined to have been accidental.