Cause of Fort Ripley house fire remains undetermined

FORT RIPLEY - The cause of a fire that destroyed a Fort Ripley home Nov. 10 has been ruled undetermined, said John Steinbach, deputy state fire marshal.

On Tuesday, Steinbach said it appeared the fire started in a bedroom but the home was too heavily damaged to determine the cause.

"There's not enough left there to find anything," Steinbach said. The house was considered a total loss, he said.

No one was in the house at 3110 Staghorn Drive, owned by Jason Wgeishofski, when the fire was reported. About a dozen Brainerd firefighters responded to the fire call at 12:14 p.m. on Nov. 10.

On Monday, Wgeishofski reported to the Crow Wing County Sheriff's Department that a grill and possibly other items were stolen from the remains of his house.