75 firefighters, 6 departments, just 1 building lost

The fire that destroyed a barn north of Ellendale last week appears to have started in the hay mow.
That’s according to Ellendale Fire Chief Logan Busho, who said he could see the flames while en route to the fire from his job in Hartland. The fire was reported about 4 p.m. Feb. 21.
Despite strong winds out of the northeast, firefighters from six companies were able to contain the flames to just one large outbuilding.
“We had fire on the side of a building right next to it,” Busho said, but crews were able to prevent the spread.
The barn belonged to Demmer Farms, and used to house dairy cows.
“I could not believe how fast they got there,” said Scott Demmer, owner Rick Demmer’s son. “For a volunteer fire department, they had a lot of guys and they were there quick.”
Demmer said his dad had milked cows “his whole life,” but an ankle replacement last spring prompted him to get rid of all his cattle, leaving the 50-by-130 building mostly empty.
“It would’ve been bad if it had been full,” Scott said.
Crews stayed on the scene for several hours before leaving, then returned and stayed on the scene until about 11 a.m. Feb. 22.
“With straw, you have to just keep pulling it apart” and keeping an eye on the hot spots, Busho said.
He estimated about 75 firefighters responded, coming from Ellendale, Geneva, New Richland, Owatonna, Waseca and Waldorf.
“Every time I turned around, there was somebody new,” he said. One firefighter from Ellendale suffered a cut on his hand during the call, “but he’s fine,” Busho said.
According to Demmer, a couple of silos on the farm site also “looked like they got pretty hot,” but the remainder of the buildings were saved.
“I don’t know how,” he said. “The wind was blowing that way, and they were close.”
Demmer said the path moving forward hasn’t been decided.
“We’ll probably rebuild something,” he said. “The building wasn’t being used (at the time of the fire), but we had plans for it.”