Emergency responders conducted traffic control on Highway 61 while firefighters battled a fire in a workshop at a home east of Tofte on March 13.
Cook County Law Enforcement received a call at 2:34 p.m. on Friday, March 13, 2015 from James King of Tofte, reporting that the workshop on his property was on fire.
The Tofte and Schroeder Fire Departments were paged at 2:36 p.m. and were on scene just east of Tofte by 2:57 p.m. Tofte Fire Chief Rich Nelson said when his department arrived, the outbuilding was totally involved.
Additional assistance was requested from the Lutsen Fire Department at 4:08 p.m. and Lutsen was on scene by 4:20 p.m.
Cook County Ambulance, two deputies and a State Trooper also responded.
Chief Nelson said the departments used about 8,000-9,000 gallons of water and foam to extinguish the blaze, which was fortunately far from King’s home. The propane tank next to the workshop got hot enough that it blew the vent and firefighters worked to cool it down.
Firefighters got the fire out and were clear of the scene by 4:36 p.m.
King told sheriff deputies that he had lit a fire in the woodstove in his workshop. About 10 minutes later, he noticed a small fire in the back of the shop. He said he ran to the house to get a fire extinguisher and when he got back to the building, the whole structure was on fire.
No one was injured in the incident, but the building and its contents— including tools, several handmade wooden canoes and a larger boat parked next to the workshop—were a complete loss.
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