Lindsay DeLaRosby was napping in her second-floor apartment at 815 S. Minnesota St. in St. Peter when she was awakened at about 5:15 p.m. by pounding on her door — a neighbor who had seen a fire in the back, upstairs entryway and wanted to make sure everyone was out of the house.

DeLaRosby got out through the front entry of the large home, which houses four apartments. No one else was in the building.

DeLaRosby and her upstairs neighbors, Sarah and Oscar Juarez, were gathered in the alleyway and nearby backyards of the building for a couple of hours following the fire while members of the St. Peter and Kasota fire departments quickly extinguished the blaze and then carefully checked for hot spots. Oscar Juarez was in Mankato at the time the fire started, and Sarah Juarez was picking up the couple’s 1-year-old son.

St. Peter Fire Chief Windy Block said the fire started in the back, upstairs entryway of the building. Neither fire crews nor the apartments’ tenants knew what may have caused the blaze.

The owner of the building, who lives in one of the units, could not be reached for comment.

Both upstairs units were badly damaged by smoke and water. Block said the bottom two units were not damaged.

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