A fire at a Prospect Park home Thursday afternoon destroyed a University sophomore’s bedroom, including all of her personal belongings.
Brittany Farquharson, a College of Liberal Arts student preparing for pharmacy school, said she believes a candle left burning in her bedroom earlier that day started the fire. All of her clothes, bedroom furniture and other personal mementoes perished in the blaze.
“I lost everything,” she said. “It’s the pictures and my journal that I am most upset about … they cannot be replaced.”
Farquharson’s cat managed to escape the fire.
The fire did not spread to the other bedrooms in the home. Farquharson lives with two other roommates at the house. No one was injured.
Jim Hanley, a Minneapolis battalion fire chief, said he could not confirm the cause of the fire until the end of the investigation.
Farquharson said it will take about eight weeks to reconstruct the bedroom. She has to live with friends until the construction is completed.
Hanley said he often encourages residents to relocate until the smoke subsides. “The American Red Cross will put them up for the night if they want,” he said.

In other police news:
ù Unidentified suspects robbed more than $2,000 in cash, checks and gift certificates early Saturday morning from the Stadium Village Burger King, according to Minneapolis police reports.
One of the suspects reportedly struck an employee and forced the worker to open the safe, according to police reports.
The suspects entered the fast-food restaurant at 925 Washington Ave. S.E. at 5:25 a.m. Burger King employees reported the crime two hours later.
No arrests have been made.
A Burger King manager said she could not comment on the incident.

ù An unidentified suspect burglarized and attempted to set fire to an 18-year-old woman’s Dinkytown apartment late Wednesday night, according to Minneapolis police reports.
No arrests have been made.
The burglar poured gasoline over a mattress with a juice container, according to Minneapolis police reports.
When the woman arrived home, she found her apartment had been ransacked. At least $1,000 in clothing was stolen. The burglar also stole $500 in cash and damaged her windows, mattress and radio.

ù A high-speed police chase on University Avenue Southeast involved more than 18 police cars on Oct. 27.
The suspect appeared to have jumped over an embankment separating Fourth Street Southeast and University Avenue with his car around 1 a.m.
The car sustained heavy damage; the suspect continued driving about a half block before halting.
An officer said he attempted to pull the suspect over for a traffic violation in St. Paul, but the suspect drove off at high speeds down University Avenue.
The man was driving in excess of 90 mph with one hand on the wheel and the other on his window, said Aaron Den Bleyker, a sophomore in natural resources.

ù A 25-year-old New York man notified Minneapolis police Oct. 26 that someone using a Dinkytown address had obtained his personal information to open banking and credit card accounts.
According to Minneapolis police reports, someone had used the man’s name and social security number for accounts at Bloomingdale’s, Nations Bank and Atlanta Internet Savings Bank.
The mailing address used by the suspect is on the 400 block of 11th Avenue Southeast.
— Staff Reporter Tammy J. Oseid contributed to this report
Megan Boldt covers police and welcomes comments at [email protected]. She can also be reached at (612) 627-4070 x3224.