SAINT PAUL, Minnesota — Twin Cities firefighters battled both flames and frigid conditions Monday as frozen equipment and icy conditions complicated their response to multiple fires.
In New Brighton, crews encountered a frozen hydrant while fighting a house fire, with difficulties persisting even after the blaze was extinguished as firefighters struggled to close the hydrant.
The extreme cold created hazardous conditions at a separate apartment fire in St. Paul, where public works crews were called to apply sand to icy surfaces around the scene…