Washburn Library is collecting items for people who lost their homes after a fire that started in a multi-vehicle garage spread to an affordable housing complex run by Agate Housing and Services on Oct. 9. The fire also spread to a next-door apartment building, causing damage up to the third story. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

A donation flyer produced by Washburn Library

Agate estimates that 16 units are currently unlivable right now. No one in the Agate housing was injured during the fire. People who live in these units pay $450 in rent without assistance and have experienced homelessness.

The fire on Oct. 9 started at the garage marked 301 and spread to Agate Housing and Services’ housing directly to the south and the apartment building to the north. Image from Google Maps

Agate is working with Washburn Library to collect donations for residents displaced by the fire including blankets, underwear, and personal hygiene items. Most residents are adult men.

“They’re safe, but this is a traumatic experience,” Agate Executive Director Kyle Hanson said in a press release last week. “And now they are at even greater risk of becoming homeless. It’s a terrible situation.”

Apartment building and vehicle damage from a garage fire just north of 57th Street on Lyndale Avenue on the morning of Oct. 10. Photo by Melody Hoffmann

People can drop off donations at the Washburn Library reference desk. Washburn Library is located at 5244 Lyndale Ave. S and its hours are Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday noon-8 p.m.

Multiple Hennepin County libraries in Southwest Minneapolis are also collecting new and gently used cold weather items for homeless and unsheltered people in Hennepin County. Those libraries include Linden Hills, Walker, and Washburn.