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Fire at Blue Ridge

Fire, smoke, damage townhomes; 5 residents, families, are affected

By Chuck Hunt - Editor | Nov 29, 2020

Blue Earth Fire Department firefighters arrive on the scene of the fire at Blue Ridge Townhomes, above and get set up to fight the fire after making sure everyone had safely been evacuated from the complex.

A structure fire on Monday afternoon in Blue Earth left five residents displaced from their homes, with one family left homeless.

The fire call came in at 2:50 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 23. It was at the Blue Ridge Townhomes, a part of the Blue Ridge Apartment complex on the west side of the city.

One townhome was completely engulfed in flames, according to Blue Earth Fire Chief Roger Davis.

“It is a six-unit townhome,” Davis said. “One townhome was vacant, and all the residents of the other five had been evacuated by the time we arrived.”

The fire chief said the fire fighters were able to knock down the fire fairly quickly, limiting the major fire damage to just the one townhome, unit eight.

“The guys did an awesome job containing the fire,” Davis said. “The other five units did receive smoke damage, though.”

Davis said the department helped the displaced tenants get in contact with the Red Cross, to help them out in several ways.

“We wanted to make sure everyone had a place to stay that night,” Davis added. “I think four of the tenants were helped by the Red Cross.”

The one family of unit eight, where the fire was, lost all of their possessions, and they lost their dog in the fire, the chief reported. They left with just the clothes on their backs.

“The state fire marshall just finished up an investigation today (Tuesday) so we don’t have the report yet,” Davis said. “But the fire did start in the kitchen.”

The Blue Earth Fire Department was on the scene for approximately three hours. They were assisted by the Winnebago and Fairmont Fire Departments, as well as the Blue Earth Police Department and the Faribault County Sheriff’s Office.