UPDATED: Firefighters Battle Overnight House and Garage Fire in Inver Grove Heights
Published: November 3, 2025. | Updated: November 3, 2025 at 3:45 PM.
Provided by the Inver Grove Heights Fire Department, showing the narrow, long driveway emergency personnel had to navigate to fight this fire.
INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, MINNESOTA—Firefighters from multiple departments battled a massive overnight fire that began late Sunday, destroying a garage and home on the 9900 block of Arkansas Path in Inver Grove Heights.
According to the Inver Grove Heights Fire Department (IGHFD), crews were paged at 11:32 p.m. on Sunday, November 2, following reports of a garage explosion next to a single-family home. Upon arrival, first responders found both the garage and the home fully engulfed in flames.
Mutual Aid and Second Alarm Response
The initial alarm brought all IGHFD personnel and vehicles to the scene, as well as an engine and battalion chief from Eagan, a chief from Mendota Heights, and water tenders from Rosemount and Mendota Heights under the automatic mutual aid system.
Because there were no fire hydrants near the property, water had to be shuttled in using multiple tanker trucks. Even before fire crews arrived, heavy smoke was visible from a distance, prompting a second alarm that added another tender from Rosemount and one from Hastings.
With the home located close to the Eagan border, Eagan Fire crews arrived first, reporting that the structure was fully involved and beginning to collapse. The homeowner confirmed that everyone had safely exited the house, allowing crews to take a defensive approach to fight the fire from the exterior.
Collapse and Firefighting Challenges
About 14 minutes after the initial call, the garage collapsed, followed later by the house collapsing into the basement. Firefighters faced several logistical challenges, including narrow streets and long driveways that made access and water supply difficult.
Two drop tank operations were established at the ends of separate driveways, each with 600 feet of hose to reach the burning structure. Once tankers emptied their water, they had to travel up to a mile away to refill before returning to the scene. Because of the limited access, it wasn't easy to position engines, tanks, and tankers side-by-side while maintaining space for vehicles to turn around at the end of the dead-end street. In total, six water tenders were used, collectively shuttling more than 20 truckloads of water throughout the night.
Provided by the Inver Grove Heights Fire Department, showing one of the drop tank operations used to fight the fire.
Fire Contained and Monitored Overnight
By 1:07 a.m., crews had achieved a good knockdown on the flames, and by 1:24 a.m., the fire was marked out. Firefighters remained on scene until 3:14 a.m. for cleanup and monitoring, as the collapsed metal roof trapped smoldering material beneath it. The structure was allowed to continue to smolder under watch through the night.
Assistance and Aftermath
IGHFD thanked its mutual aid partners, including the Eagan, Rosemount, Mendota Heights, and Hastings Fire Departments, as well as the Inver Grove Heights Police Department, MHealth Fairview Ambulance, and South Metro Fire Department, which responded to a separate medical call during the incident.
No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but does not appear to be suspicious at this time.
Map of the rough location of the fire.
