Kare11
Red Flag Warning issued for western Minnesota
![](https://media.kare11.com/assets/KARE/images/e9c4fa63-60b9-4926-ae82-d0b11bd18b8c/e9c4fa63-60b9-4926-ae82-d0b11bd18b8c_1140x641.jpg)
From 1 p.m. through 6 p.m., 32 counties are advised against outdoor fires.
MINNEAPOLIS — It’s been a dry and windy few months in Minnesota and this weekend looks like it won’t be any different.
On Saturday, the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning starting at 1 p.m. and lasting through 7 p.m. reaching from the state’s western border into west central and southwestern Minnesota.
Strong winds and low humidity in the forecast means officials are concerned about fires spreading quickly and getting out of control.
Counties affected by extreme fire risk conditions include:
- Becker
- Big Stone
- Brown
- Chippewa
- Clay
- Cottonwood
- Douglas
- Grant
- Jackson
- Kandiyohi
- Kittson
- Lac Qui Parle
- Lincoln
- Lyon
- Marshall
- Martin
- Murray
- Nobles
- Norman
- Pipestone
- Polk
- Pope
- Redwood
- Renville
- Rock
- Stevens
- Swift
- Traverse
- Wadena
- Watonwan
- Wilkin
- Yellow Medicine
![](https://media.kare11.com/assets/KARE/images/e9c4fa63-60b9-4926-ae82-d0b11bd18b8c/e9c4fa63-60b9-4926-ae82-d0b11bd18b8c_16x9.jpg)
![](https://media.kare11.com/assets/KARE/images/e9c4fa63-60b9-4926-ae82-d0b11bd18b8c/e9c4fa63-60b9-4926-ae82-d0b11bd18b8c_1140x641.jpg)
During a red Flag Warning, the Department of Natural Resources will not activate any open burning permits, and campfires are discouraged. Officials urge anyone aware of a recent burn to make sure the fire is completely out.
“Fine fuels, such as grass and small twigs, can dry out quickly when it’s warm and the relative humidity is low,” said Karen Harrison, DNR wildfire prevention specialist. “These fine fuels can easily ignite and start a wildfire that spreads quickly in windy conditions”.
RELATED: Seeds to plant now | Grow with KARE
Watch the latest deep-dives and explainers on weather and science in our YouTube playlist:
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11’s newscasts. You’ll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
Kare11
1 man killed, another injured in Saturday night shooting
![](https://media.kare11.com/assets/KARE/images/b7ffc6a2-eb31-4e43-92b6-255e75e455cf/20240901T131202/b7ffc6a2-eb31-4e43-92b6-255e75e455cf_1140x641.jpg)
Police said two men in their 20s were shot in the 2900 block of Grand Avenue South while walking with a group.
MINNEAPOLIS — A man in his 20s was killed and another man injured after a shooting in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis on Saturday night, police said.
Officers responded to a shooting in the 2900 block of Grand Avenue South just after 10:45 p.m. and found a man in his 20s with life-threatening gunshot wounds, according to a press release. Police said they provided medical aid until EMS arrived.
Despite their efforts, police said the man died at the scene. His name has not been released at this time.
Police also found another man in his 20s with at least one non-life-threatening gunshot wound. He was taken in an ambulance to Hennepin Healthcare and his condition is unknown at this time.
According to officials, preliminary information shows the two men were part of a group walking on the sidewalk when shots were fired. Police said possible suspects were seen leaving the scene on foot.
No arrests have been made at this time and officials said the investigation was ongoing.
Kare11
3 dead after small plane crashes into townhomes east of Portland
![](https://media.kare11.com/assets/KGW/images/e37cb6ae-b3d5-4bdf-be7d-5bb4b22971d8/20240831T184728/e37cb6ae-b3d5-4bdf-be7d-5bb4b22971d8_1140x641.jpg)
The crash sparked a fire that spread to four of the townhome units, according to fire officials. About 9,000 people lost power for hours due to downed power lines.
TROUTDALE, Ore. — Three people are confirmed dead after a small plane with two occupants crashed into a residential area near the Troutdale Airport Saturday morning, striking a set of power transmission lines and then hitting a row of townhomes, setting multiple units ablaze. The twin-engine Cessna 421C crashed at around 10:30 a.m. in Fairview, about 11 miles east of Portland.
Gresham fire officials confirmed Saturday evening that there were at least three fatalities in the incident, but said they could not confirm any other details about who died. The Federal Aviation Administration previously confirmed that there had been two people onboard the plane, and Gresham Fire Chief Scott Lewis said that one townhome resident was unaccounted for.
There were also multiple injuries in the incident, according to Lewis and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Deputy John Plock, but the extent of the injuries and the number of injured people were not known.
Video shot by people at the scene late Saturday morning showed at multiple units on fire in the row of townhomes, with debris strewn in front and visible flames in the upper story of one house and smoke billowing from a window of the other, with a large number of fire personnel responding.
![A twin-engine Cessna crashed in a residential neighborhood west of the Troutdale Airport. Firefighters could be seen battling a blaze in at least two houses.](https://media.kare11.com/assets/KGW/images/e37cb6ae-b3d5-4bdf-be7d-5bb4b22971d8/20240831T184728/e37cb6ae-b3d5-4bdf-be7d-5bb4b22971d8_1920x1080.jpg)
There was a “somewhat large” debris field, Plock said, and there were two main crash areas because some pieces apparently began to break off after the plane hit the power equipment.
The crash side is located near a power transmission line, and video from the scene on Saturday showed multiple wires apparently knocked off of one of the transmission towers. Some of the lines landed in a nearby field and sparked a brush fire, Plock said, although the fire didn’t spread far.
The damage to the lines also caused a power outage; Portland General Electric confirmed that around 9,000 customers in the Fairview area had been impacted. PGE later said service had been restored to all impacted customers as of 3 p.m.
PGE told KGW on Saturday evening that its crews were onsite and working with National Transportation Safety Board officials to safely access the power equipment and assess the damage before beginning repairs. The transmission tower itself was still in place, PGE said; most of the damage appeared to be to the lines.
![](https://media.kare11.com/assets/KGW/images/f4064ce7-029e-4f5b-b4db-72ef867cf1d5/20240901T033835/f4064ce7-029e-4f5b-b4db-72ef867cf1d5_16x9.jpg)
![](https://media.kare11.com/assets/KGW/images/f4064ce7-029e-4f5b-b4db-72ef867cf1d5/20240901T033835/f4064ce7-029e-4f5b-b4db-72ef867cf1d5_1140x641.jpg)
Lewis said fire crews were first notified of the incident by staff at the Troutdale Airport control tower, who reported a column of smoke west of the airport. Arriving crews found heavy fire in the row of townhomes, initially involving two units but later spreading to impact four in total.
The incident became a five-alarm fire, Lewis said, in part because the high temperatures on Saturday meant that fire personnel needed to frequently take breaks to avoid overheating. Portland Fire & Rescue and Vancouver Fire Department crews responded in addition to Gresham Fire Department crews.
The crash impact caused structural damage to the building, he added, so fire crews couldn’t safely work inside the building as much as they’d normally be able to in a residential fire, and had to focus more on exterior operations with overhead water from a ladder truck. He said it wasn’t clear if fuel from the plane helped feed the fire, but that the size of the smoke column in the initial reports suggested that it was possible.
![](https://media.kare11.com/assets/KGW/images/d41e29fd-ad54-41eb-a539-500e8e245de8/20240831T213924/d41e29fd-ad54-41eb-a539-500e8e245de8_16x9.jpg)
![](https://media.kare11.com/assets/KGW/images/d41e29fd-ad54-41eb-a539-500e8e245de8/20240831T213924/d41e29fd-ad54-41eb-a539-500e8e245de8_1140x641.jpg)
A total of five families have been displaced, Lewis said, with the possibility of a sixth displaced family depending on the condition of their unit once fire crews assess it.
Plock added that volunteers from the Trauma Intervention Program had responded to the site to help the people who were displaced, and the Red Cross later told KGW that the agency had sent team members to scene and that all the affected families had safe places to stay lined up for Saturday night.
The FAA said the NTSB will lead the investigation into the crash, with the FAA also involved. An NTSB spokesperson told KGW that the agency has dispatched two investigators to the site who will document the plane wreckage and then move it to a secure facility for further evaluation.
Anyone who witnessed the accident or has surveillance video or other relevant information is asked to contact witness@ntsb.gov. The NTSB spokesperson said the agency would not discuss the cause of the accident during the on-the-ground investigation phase, and that it will be up to local authorities to release any information about victims or injuries.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Kare11
Governor Tim Walz expected to make appearance at MN State Fair
![](https://media.kare11.com/assets/KARE/images/df5140fd-0ac1-4cf6-a6e4-0a28cf367a0f/20240901T015555/df5140fd-0ac1-4cf6-a6e4-0a28cf367a0f_1140x641.jpg)
“To try to bring somebody in with all the resources and assets that have to come with that Secret Service umbrella is pretty challenging,” Mike Olson said.
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Governor and Democrat VP nominee Tim Walz is expected to make an appearance at the Minnesota State Fair. Walz announced the visit at a rally in Virginia Friday.
“To try to bring somebody in with all the resources and assets that have to come with that Secret Service umbrella is pretty challenging,” Mike Olson, a former Secret Service senior special agent, said.
Those challenges mixed with the record high attendance figures – Friday drew 225,521 people – and security will be difficult.
“They’ll establish some, some level of a temporary perimeter with the resources they have, that’s going to be the hardest challenge,” Olson said. “And I would predict they’re not going to be able to stay there very long.”
Olson’s prediction comes with a history of his own – he worked Dick Cheney’s visit to the fairgrounds in 2004.
“I can tell you just from that experience back then, it was very challenging to even try to get the motorcade close to where they wanted to go,” Olson said.
Olson also says don’t expect an official announcement as the campaign tries to draw as little attention before their visit.
“The off-the-record move is more favorable in an environment like that because then you’re popping in, people don’t know, so you have that element of surprise,” he said. “You have people on the other side of the fairgrounds that are going to have no clue that the person was there.”
The Minnesota State Fair declined to comment on Walz’s trip the great Minnesota get-together. The Saint Paul Police Department also declined to comment, instead pointing us to the Secret Service.
“Keep things tight in something as expansive as the state fairgrounds, you don’t want to spend a lot of time there,” Olson said.