City of Saint Paul and CommonBond Communities Evacuate 1,500 Residents at Skyline Tower After Fire Early Sunday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEOctober 27, 2025CONTACTSJennifer "JLor" LorOffice of Mayor Melvin [email protected](651) 417-9454Deputy Chief Jamie SmithSaint Paul Fire [email protected](612) 801-0701Karen LawCommonBond [email protected]

SAINT PAUL- The City of Saint Paul supported CommonBond Communities in evacuating 1,500 residents Sunday after an early-morning fire damaged the Skyline Tower apartment building's electrical system.

At approximately 12:23 a.m. on October 26, Saint Paul Fire Department crews responded to 1247 St. Anthony Avenue for a reported fire on the building's 12th floor. Firefighters quickly extinguished it without any injuries and turned the building over to management for additional safety precautions.

Seven minutes later, building management contacted Saint Paul Fire again for immediate assistance after the failure of a 3,000-AMP electrical system activated sprinklers on three floors, resulting in a complete power outage. The outage disrupted potable water and heat, and disabled the fire suppression system, fire alarms, and all elevators.

Because of the complete loss of power and functionality, the building was deemed uninhabitable, and the Fire Safety Division of the Department of Safety and Inspections revoked the building's certificate of occupancy. The city activated emergency response resources to assist CommonBond with implementing their evacuation plan and ensuring residents were provided temporary lodging accommodations. Over 100 residents required special assistance in evacuating due to medical conditions and Metro Transit was engaged to assist in emergency transportation.

Currently, building systems remain offline, and families will not be able to return until essential utilities and safety systems are fully restored.

The city remains in coordination with CommonBond to provide additional housing services. Skyline Tower residents may call the city's Emergency Housing Support Line at 651-564-8570. It will be staffed from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. and offers assistance in English, Somali, Amharic, Oromo, Hmong, Vietnamese, and Spanish. Translation services in additional languages can be made available upon request.

For additional resources and supports, visit stpaul.gov/emergencyhousing.

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Last Edited: October 27, 2025