The following appeared in the Rock County Star Herald on August 17, 1967.
Fairgrounds Barn Leveled In Spectacular Blaze
Costly Fire Hits One Week After The Fair
Two boys, ages 9 and 10 admitted to the deputy state fire marshal and local police that they had been smoking in the livestock barn at the fairgrounds before it was destroyed by fire Sunday evening.
Deputy Marshal Mel Hardy, Marshall, investigated the blaze, coming here Sunday night, and working all day Monday with Fire Chief Curt Maxwell and the Luverne police department. No charges were filed.
The spectacular blaze, which was reported about 6:10 p.m. Sunday, destroyed the barn which had housed thousands of dollars worth of livestock during the Rock County Fair, just eight days earlier. Except for fair week, the barn, with an adjoining sales pavilion and a small office building to the north of it, was rented by Marcel Reisch, owner of the Luverne Livestock Association. Reisch came here in April, after purchasing the business from Gerrit Smith. He conducted livestock auctions there each Saturday.
Around $40,000
Best estimate as to the amount of the loss to the Rock County Agriculture Society, which owns the fairgrounds and building, was between $30,000 and $40,000. This figure was based on one property appraiser’s estimate. However, it was generally agreed that a building like it could not be built today for that figure. The fair board had the barn and sales pavilion insured for $21,600. The small office building was insured for $300.
Reisch estimated his loss of property and loss of business at about $5,000. He said he had some insurance, “but not nearly enough.”
He lost a registered Dalmatian dog and a pig in the fire. Several horses and cows which he owned were outside the building at the time of the blaze, so there was no livestock destroyed. However, he did lose 13 tons of hay and a load of straw which had just been hauled into the barn after the fair was over. Also in the barn was a 10 cu. ft. food freezer, filled with food, some saddles, some trunks filled with clothing, and a few other personal items.
The alarm was believed to have been turned in almost simultaneously by Russell Roos and Mrs. Ted Schneekloth, who lives on south Freeman just west of the fair grounds. Mr. and Mrs. Roos were walking to a neighbor’s home when they saw the fire break through the roof of the barn. Mr. Roos ran back home to place the fire call. About the same time, Mrs. Ted Schneekloth saw it from her home and turned in the alarm. Mrs. Roos went to the Tony Van Engelenhoven home, knowing that Mr. Van Engelenhoven was a fireman. She told Mr. Van Engelenhoven, who tried to call the fire number. The line was busy, indicating that it was already being reported.
The blaze started in the south end of the building where the two boys told the officials they had been smoking in the middle alley, a short time earlier. They said they had put their cigarettes out, and there was no fire in the building when they left for home, according to the officials. There were no other boys with them, they said.
The fire spread through the hay and straw to the tinder-dry framework of the building so rapidly that the firemen had no opportunity to bring it under control. A south wind fanned the blaze after it broke through the roof in several places, and billows of black smoke and cinders rose high in the air. Several persons saw the smoke from a distance as far away as 25 miles, it was reported.
Wind Carries Burning Cinders
Cinders sailed northward, one of the burning pieces falling on the apartment building on East main street, known as the Skoland house. Andy Vatland, who lives in the house, saw the fire on the west slope of the roof as he was driving down the street. He found a ladder which was long enough for him to reach a television antenna wire, and he climbed up the side of the building using the wire as a support until he got on the roof. After getting on the roof, someone threw a blanket up to him which he used to beat out the blaze. Meanwhile, a fire truck was called from the fairgrounds to help, but the blaze was out before they could get to it.
About 15 or 20 minutes earlier, one of the trucks raced to the Chicago and Northwestern right of way, about a block north and a short distance east of the fairgrounds. There, some utility poles lying on the ground had been ignited by burning embers.
The firemen pulled away from the fairgrounds a third time when there was a report of a fire in the east part of town. One truck went as far as the sewage disposal plant, found nothing and returned to the fairground.
Other Buildings Threatened
Houses and out buildings near the fair grounds were momentarily threatened. Garden hoses and buckets of water were used extinguishing smoldering shingles and siding. There was no serious damage to these buildings, however.
Damage was done to the electrical line leading south on Cedar street into the fair grounds. Near the barn, a transformer which was atop a burning utility pole was shorting out, causing a sharp crackling noise and an intense, white light.
Heat Is Intense
As soon as Alex Aanenson heard about the fire, he drove to the fair grounds with the tractor part of his semi truck in the hope that he would be able to pull the trailer away from the burning building. By that time, however, the heat was so intense and the building was burning with such a fury that he couldn’t get close enough to the trailer. He then used a chain to hook up to the lunch wagon trailer to try to pull it away, but he couldn’t move it from the angle at which he had to pull it, so he gave up.
Reisch was eating supper when he heard of the fire. He managed to get his records out of the office building before the fire reached it.
“I’d like to stay here and stay in business,” he said Monday, “but there isn’t anything I can do unless they rebuild for me.”
Replacing the building, according to Carl Husen, fair board secretary, is another matter. It will depend upon the insurance settlement, and also upon action of the fair board as to how extensively they decide to build.
The board is not expected to meet until early next week as several members, including President Leonard Hagen, are out of town on vacation.
The older portion of the barn was 52 years old, having been built in 1915. It had since been enlarged from its original 32 by 96 foot size. Dimensions of the stock barn at the time of the fire was 96 x 136 feet. The sale barn was 48 x 80 feet. The barn had been rewired and re-shingled during the past two years at a cost of about $5,000.
Donations to the Rock County Historical Society can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, 312 E. Main Street, Luverne, MN 56156.
Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.