Minnesota News Roundup: Red flag warnings are back

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CHANHASSEN, Minn. -- Nearly the entire lower half of the state is under a red flag warning this afternoon (12-7 p.m.). The National Weather Service says conditions are ripe for fire southward of a line from Olivia to Hutchinson to the Twin Cities. Much of the state will be in the 60's later and rain is due in over northern Minnesota.

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The D-N-R reports a handful of wildfires continue to burn across the upper half of Minnesota, most notably the North Minnie Fire located north of the Red Lake area. The fire has burned around 25-thousand acres so far and more than 100 firefighters could be on the scene for much of October. At last check, the North Minnie Fire was only about 30-percent contained.

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It's Fire Prevention Week (OCT 7-13) and officials urge families to go over their fire escape plans. State Fire Marshal Jerry Rosendahl says it's important to plan for two ways out of each room in the house. He adds that, in the event of a fire, test the door and if it's hot, that means the exit is blocked by fire and you should take the second way out.

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Authorities have identified the man fatally shot by Richfield Police on Friday. Twenty-five-year-old Jeffrey O'Connor died as a result of multiple gun shot wounds. That's according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner. Police responded to a domestic disturbance call Friday morning at a home on the 66-Hundred block of Park Avenue South. Officers say O'Connor was wielding a knife when they arrived at the home. The incident remains under investigation.

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Health officials continue to notify the 950 or so Minnesota patients who were treated with infected steroid products linked to a nationwide meningitis outbreak. Buddy Ferguson with the state Health Department says there's a distinction between this fungal outbreak and viral or bacterial meningitis. He says "You can't get this fungal meningitis from other people." So far, two Minnesota women, both in their forties, have been diagnosed with the disease. They are being treated with antibiotic and antifungal drugs. Seven people from across the U-S have died from the current outbreak.

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