Woman Killed in North Fargo Apartment Identified

Firefighters knocked the flames down in 20 minutes

UPDATE: Fargo Police have identified the victim of a North Fargo apartment fire as 52-year-old Denise Anderson of Fargo.

UPDATE: A man is arrested after a woman is found dead in a north Fargo apartment.

44-year-old Sheldon Davis is being held on murder and arson charges.

“The female had injuries that were not caused by fire or smoke. Traumatic injuries to her. Based on that investigation, and other evidence that we found throughout the course of the day, the resident of that apartment, Mr. Sheldon George Davis of Fargo was arrested this evening for the charge of murder and arson,” Fargo Police Lt. Chris Helmick said.

Police say they tracked down Davis at another north Fargo home Thursday night. They believe Davis and the victim knew each other.

The identity of the female victim is being withheld pending notification of relatives.

An autopsy is planned on Friday.

FARGO, N.D. — One person is dead after an apartment fire this morning in North Fargo.

Around 9:30 a.m., firefighters were called to a three story apartment building at 417 12th Street North.

The caller reported seeing smoke from the top of the building. The street was blocked off as firefighters fought the blaze.

“Within 20 minutes they did have it knocked down, fire damage is confined to the upper floor apartment,” Fargo Fire Marshal Ryan Erickson said.

“I noticed something was really going on. It started out and next thing you know we decided it was really a fire. We came out here and I see a bunch of first responders,” neighbor Andrew Vivier said.

Firefighters did find one person dead in the apartment. Both the Fargo Fire and Police Departments will be investigating.

“Our operations right now are just dealing with controlling the scene and finishing the fire operations, and we’ll move into that phase as soon as that’s over,” Erickson said.

“You could see it right there. There was smoke just pouring right out of it, there was smoke coming right out of the building, all on the other side,” Vivier said.

Fargo Fire responded with five engines, battalion chief, and a truck company. Fargo Police and F–M Ambulance also helped out.

Vivier was impressed by how quickly first responders got the situation under control.

“There was fire coming right out of the top of the building, and these big boys right here, they did wonders. They came inside there and they put it all down,” he said.

Besides the one fatality, there were no other injuries reported. The Red Cross and Salvation Army are helping out with anyone who needs housing.

It’s not clear how the fire was started, and there’s no estimate on the amount of damage yet.