Controlled burn gets out of control near church

Members of the Luverne Fire Department responded to a grass fire west of Luverne Thursday morning, April 30.
The fire started west of the First Assemblies of God Church along the north side of County Road 4 around 11 a.m.
The fire appeared to be spreading toward the northwest across a field of corn stubble, but it didn’t appear that any structures were damaged.
According to Luverne Fire Chief David Van Batavia, the owner of the property, the church pastor, had been burning tall grass in a wetland near the property line.
He said the blaze got out of control and burned several hundred feet of a nearly field cover.