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Minnesota News
MPR News Staff
St. Paul

Arrest made in connection to St. Paul grocery store fire

Lunds & Byerly's reopened Friday after damage clean-up

Lunds after fire
Damage to the exterior of the Lunds and Byerly's store in downtown St. Paul is still visible following a fire earlier this week. The store reopened on Friday.
Samuel King

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A man was brought into custody in connection with a fire that forced the temporary closure of the Lunds and Byerly's store in St. Paul this week. The man was arrested on unrelated charges by Metro Transit police on Friday.

St. Paul police had issued a pickup and hold for the man based on first-degree arson charges.

Video posted to social media showed flames covering the awning above one of the store entrances just before 2 a.m. Tuesday.

Firefighters had been returning from another call when they noticed the smoke from the fire and responded.

A fire burns the facade of a grocery store
A fire burns the facade of the Lunds & Byerlys grocery store in downtown St. Paul early on the morning of Tuesday, March 29, 2022. This is a still frame from video.
Courtesy of Corey Schreppel

The flames "caused a significant amount of exterior damage," Lunds & Byerly’s spokesperson Aaron Sorenson told MPR News on Tuesday. "We also experienced interior damage as a result of the sprinkler system being activated."

The store reopened on Friday. The entrance where the fire happened is still closed off.

Investigators quickly determined the fire had been intentionally set, and were trying to whether there was a connected to two nearby dumpster fires believed to have been set at the same time.

The fire was on the southeast corner of the block that includes the Penfield, a 254-unit apartment building that adjoins the store. The fire did not reach any residences.