REGIONAL — While many southwest Minnesotans spent their Sundays snuggling under blankets, some jobs make it impossible to shelter from the cold, no matter how many digits follow the minus sign.
Around 9 a.m. Sunday, it was minus-17 degrees in Lismore, and three fire departments were called to a machine shed fire west of town. Lismore fire chief Jim Weidert said the shed was a total loss.
"By the time somebody saw it, it was already pretty much gone," he said.
About 20 firefighters worked to extinguish the flames to prevent the fire from spreading to two nearby buildings on the property. Weidert called for mutual aid from the Adrian and Wilmont fire departments, "just in case something of ours would freeze up," but the precaution ended up being unnecessary.
It took around two hours to put out the fire. The cause remains unknown.
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On Sunday afternoon, Worthington firefighters donned their gear and headed to Palma Customs & Auto Sales on Oxford Street, where a car fire had been reported.
Fire chief Jason Larsen said that the owner had extinguished the flames already when WFD got there, but the department checked it out anyway. The inner fender well of the smoldering vehicle had melted.
That evening, four area fire departments dropped everything and rushed to a shop in rural Heron Lake, where a fire had spread to a second building on the property. The Okabena, Lakefield and Windom fire departments also responded to the scene. No other details were available at press time.
