When the fire at 4425 Aldrich Ave N--owned by the infamous Mahmood Khan--broke out several months ago, a common refrain was relief that everyone was able to escape in time. Many wondered what would have happened if circumstances were just a bit different. If the fire had started somewhere else, or if it spread just a bit faster, would we be mourning deaths instead of sighing in collective relief? Tragically, we don't have to wonder "what if?" because the unthinkable has happened. Five children are dead, and a family is torn apart.
When news spread about the Valentine's Day fire at 2818 Colfax, plenty of northsiders' first words were, "I bet it happened at a property owned by _____." That blank had one of about five well-known landlords in it, and Paul Bertelson was among them. Initial investigative results are already pointing away from foul play and indicating the fire was an accident of some sort, making the next question obvious: How could we have kept this from happening, and how will we keep something like it from happening again? We shouldn't need a senseless tragedy like this to cause us to ask some tough questions around housing in Minneapolis. But it's happened and we better take a hard look at how and why.
