Victim of deadly Becker County house fire identified

OSAGE, Minn. (KVRR-KFGO) – A woman who died in a house fire in Becker County last week has been identified.

Becker County Sheriff Todd Glander says 79-year-old Anita Gruel was found deceased inside the home.

The sheriff’s office received a 911 call just before 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 18 about a house fire in Osage, approximately 30 miles east of Detroit Lakes.

A man flagged down a passing driver on Highway 34 and said a woman was possibly still inside the burning home.

Carsonville and Park Rapids Fire Departments responded to the scene along with a sheriff’s deputy.

Anita Gruel was later found inside the residence and pronounced deceased at the scene.

Her son, Charles Gruel, 48, was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Park Rapids to be treated for smoke inhalation and possible burns.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.