A home in the 30500 block of Paul Avenue was destroyed by fire Friday afternoon.
The Bigelow Fire Department was dispatched at 12:36 p.m. Friday to the fire, which was across from Ocheda Dairy. The family who lived in the home was not there at the time.
Both the upstairs of the home and the downstairs were engulfed when Bigelow Fire Department Chief Steve Hohensee arrived at the scene. Hohensee said he quickly called the Worthington Fire Department for mutual aid, as he could see the extent of the blaze as he proceeded down the long driveway toward the home.
Around 13 or 14 Bigelow firefighters and eight or nine from Worthington, he added, worked to keep the fire from spreading to other structures on the property. Five trucks from Bigelow and two from Worthington were at the scene. Most of the firefighters were on the scene for eight hours and some nearly 10 hours.
While weather conditions were on the cold side with wind, hoses did not freeze up, and a large grove around the property contained the breeze, though some trees did catch fire. One significant challenge was delivering water to the site. Sources for water were the Bigelow and Worthington fire halls as well as a fire hydrant near the intersection of Plotts Avenue and U.S. 59/Minnesota 60.
A payloader provided by Ocheda Dairy helped clear debris away from the home as well as vehicles, Hohensee said, allowing firefighters to get better access to flames in the basement. The dairy's owners — the families of Dave and Joe Vander Kooi --- also assisted by pushing down trees and removing a propane tank after cooling it down.
A Go Fund Me for the family who lost their home has been set up https://gofund.me/c08efb73. The American Red Cross was also contacted.
