St. Paul fire destroys building, displaces residents

Paige Mackedanz moved into her apartment five months ago. Now, the building doesn’t exist.

The 20-unit apartment building that caught fire Monday has already been demolished, leaving dozens of people displaced.

Mackedanz is an assistant director of college admissions at Concordia University in St. Paul. She helps students figure out what to do with their lives — but she never imagined she’d need help figuring out her own.

She lived in the apartment with her cat, Honey, but was at work when the fire started. She went home immediately when she got a text from her neighbor alerting her to the emergency.