Firefighters were still working Friday evening to knock down a massive blaze at the Helix Apartments in St. Louis Park after flames shot out of the roof of the complex on July 17, 2026. By early evening, a large part of the site had already been heavily damaged.
Crews were first called to the complex at 7500 Hwy. 7 at 4:47 p.m. after a report of smoke, and the fire was visible enough by about 5:30 p.m. that flames were coming from the roof. No injuries had been reported as of early Friday evening, even as the scene turned into a fast-moving emergency that left residents facing immediate displacement.
The Salvation Army was called in to help residents who had to leave the building, a sign of how quickly the fire shifted from a fire call to a housing problem. The Helix Apartments was built in 1985 and was extensively renovated between 2020 and 2022, but the cause of the fire was still unknown by early Friday evening.
Investigators are expected to examine what started the blaze, and that answer will matter because the damage was already severe enough to force people out while crews were still fighting the fire. For residents of the Helix Apartments, the immediate question is no longer what the building looked like before Friday. It is when they will be able to go back.
