The Crookston Fire Department was one of more than a dozen agencies that battled the large grass fire in Polk County on Monday. Crookston Fire Chief Tim Froeber estimated more than 100 fire trucks, grass fire rigs, and other firefighting apparatus were used to battle the fire.
Froeber said he’d never seen anything like the size of the response or the blaze that tore through 13,000-15,000 acres. “It was an amazing effort with all of these fire departments,” said Froeber. “I’m guessing we probably had 10 different fire departments, state and federal resources with aircraft and ground crews, law enforcement and ambulance crews. It was a huge effort out there. I’ve never seen anything like that before with so many fire apparatuses. I’m sure there had to be at least 100 different pieces of fire equipment out there working on this fire. When you watch TV and see stuff like out in the Washington area or California that was right in our back yard east of Crookston. I’ve talked to some of the retired firefighters from Crookston here, and they’ve never heard of such a large fire that had so many crews working on it. But it went very well; it was well orchestrated by mutual aid and the mutual command system. I’m glad that it all turned out well.”
The Crookston Fire Department initially received a dispatch for mutual aid shortly after 1:30 p.m. on Monday. “We got dispatched out for mutual aid for the Mentor Fire Department at 13:34 hours for the large grass fire,” said Froeber. “We were assigned to 135th AVE SW on Highway 2 to assist with keeping the fire from jumping Highway 2. From there, we provided backburning going east about three-quarters of a mile. The fire eventually ended up jumping Highway 2 further to the east due to the wind that was out that day, and we had to protect some homesteads north of Highway 2 on 120th Ave. Successfully protected all of those buildings, then we were dispatched to go to Glacial Ridge on Highway 32, south of Highway 2.”
On the way to a group of buildings belonging to Glacial Ridge, the CFD also protected several homes. “On the way there, they also dispatched us to protect a bunch of homes along Highway 32,” said Froeber. “The guys did a great job with the assistance of other fire departments of protecting three homes and the Glacial Ridge compound and kept those structures from catching fire. We were using everything from engines to grass rigs, people with brooms and backpacks, everything that we had at our disposal to keep all of these structures from burning.”
While protecting the Glacial Ridge buildings with firefighters from several other agencies, heavy winds were aiding the fire in jumping Highway 32 around the firefighters while reducing visibility to mere feet. “Probably the craziest area was when we were over at the Glacial Ridge compound,” said Froeber. “The winds really, really picked up. We were right on their lot trying to protect their buildings. They have a lot of buildings out there, and we, the state agencies, and a bunch of local fire departments were trying to protect their buildings, knowing the fire was coming that way. That was probably at the height of the winds. I’m not sure what the winds were at during that time, but I’d have to say they were at least 50 mph. Visibility was sometimes down to just feet. The guys were out there fighting fires, and we were able to keep any of those buildings from catching fire. The fire wrapped around that compound and jumped Highway 32, and that’s when it continued heading east toward Mentor.”
Once the danger to the Glacial Ridge Buildings had subsided, the firefighters moved back in front of the flames again, this time protecting homes near Mentor. “We were able to protect those structures, and while we were out there, the fire continued going east toward Mentor,” said Froeber. “As soon as we were able to make sure all of those places were secure, we were dispatched towards Mentor where we had several areas along Highway 2 where we protected structures. We set up in a yard with hose lines and grass rigs and anything else at our disposal to protect farmsteads along there. We set out wet lines and did some backburning around structures.”
Froeber said he was amazed by the support and precision of the aircrews helping to battle the blaze. “At one point, they did bring in aircrews to help drop water,” said Froeber. “I believe there were three to four airplanes, and I saw one helicopter dropping retardant and water. That was a huge help. They were dispatched by the Minnesota DNR. That was something I’m sure that none of my crew or most of the people out there have ever seen before other than on TV. It was amazing how precise those people were in that aircraft.”
There was also support from farmers, local businesses, and the Salvation Army, said Froeber. “By the time we got back to the station and put everything back together again, we were pushing about 10 p.m.,” said Froeber. “We were out there for eight and a half hours at least. It was nice the Salvation Army came in and fed everybody. They set up shop at the Mentor Fire Station, and it looked like a lot of the local restaurants around that area donated a lot of food and water. We also have to thank a lot of the farmers and businesses along the line that were offering water equipment for putting out firebreaks. We had commercial contractors out there with bulldozers and tractors helping to make firebreaks and spreading out hay bales that caught fire. It was definitely a huge effort by not only fire departments, federal agents, but also your local neighbors.”
The best news, no one from the Crookston Fire Department was injured. “We did not,” said Froeber. “We have a few minor repairs on our equipment, but I’m glad to say we came out of it very well. Our firefighters did an excellent job, and I’m very proud of them.”
