St. Paul apartment building to be demolished after fire

Time right now an apartment building in the capital city is being torn down after a devastating fire just 24 hours ago. And of course that demolition now leaving a lot of people with nowhere to go. Bill Keller has the very latest from St. Paul. Yeah, this time yesterday, residents of the Randolph Terrace apartments say they could smell smoke as fire began spreading inside kind of a hard to reach attic space above the top floor. This morning, an excavator and some front-end loaders have been brought on site. They're going to begin the process of tearing down that building. One resident telling us that she lost just about everything she owns, escaping with only her phone, her cat, and the clothes on her back. The word that feels like it comes to heart mostly is devastated. I'm remembering everything else I should have grabbed, and that's really hard, because I got out so soon that I'm, like, kicking myself, for not grabbing more. This all started around 8:30 yesterday morning when firefighters arrived, they found those flames burning in the attic of a four-story apartment building. They evacuated about 20 units. Crews tried to get the fire under control, but when the roof collapsed, well then firefighters were forced to switch to a defensive attack. And because of the situation becoming too dangerous for those firefighters to be inside the building. Crews had to battle the flames from the outside. Investigators still looking into the cause, but some residents believe it was electrical. The lights all night were dimming, like every light. Like at first I thought it was my apartment. I go outside and it was. The alley light or whatever, and even the hallway lights, they were just dimming and then coming back. Yeah, thankfully everyone made it out safely, but we're told some pets are still missing, and the Red Cross was called to help those dozens who are displaced by this. Officials say the 100-year-old building, not only a total loss, but because it is structurally unsound, that's why it's being demolished. And while that goes on, Randolph closed between Fairview and Howell in St. Paul. Bill Keller, Fox 9.