UPDATED 12:50 p.m.
GRAND FORKS, N.D. - A Grand Forks woman who was pulled unconscious from a duplex fire last night has been transferred to a Minneapolis hospital to be treated for her injuries.
The woman, who is believed to be in her 50s, is in serious condition at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, hospital spokeswoman Christine Hill said.
The Grand Forks Fire Department said in a news release that the blaze caused about $31,000 in damage to the building and its contents. Fire damage was limited to the woman's upstairs apartment. The downstairs apartment sustained some smoke and water damage.
A man who lived in the downstairs apartment is on vacation, according to next-door neighbor Paul Bays.
Bays first noticed the fire at 637 Fourth Ave. S. around 7:50 p.m. Monday when he was taking his dog out in the yard. He smelled smoke and realized it was coming from next door, he said. While his fiancee, Katie Aamold, called 911, he said, he knocked on the door, but no one answered.
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Yellow flames could be seen through a side window on the second floor as thick gray smoke billowed out the front window and through the shingles on the roof.
Firefighters pulled the woman, covered in soot, out onto the sidewalk. Paramedics worked to resuscitate her at the scene. She was taken to Altru Hospital, before being transferred to HCMC.
Authorities have not released the woman's name.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The Grand Forks Herald and The Forum are both owned by Forum Communications co.
