A very quick response by the Lutsen Fire Department with mutual aid from the Tofte and Schroeder Fire Departments on Monday, August 8 kept this Cascade Beach Road cabin from burning entirely and kept the fire from spreading into the vegetation around the cabin. The fire may have started from a lightning strike. The property owner was not home at the time of the fire.
Cook County Law Enforcement received two emergency 911 calls at 6:47 p.m. on Monday, August 8 reporting that lightning had struck a cabin and started it on fire at 3948 Cascade Beach Road in Lutsen. Lutsen Fire Department, Lutsen First Responders, and Cook County Ambulance were paged and were enroute by 6:52 p.m. and on scene by 7:02 p.m. Members of the fire department were at the hall for a regular Monday night training meeting.
The first firefighters on scene asked for mutual aid, so the Schroeder and Tofte Fire Departments—also conducting Monday night training meetings—headed to the scene.
Lutsen Fire Chief Paul Goettl said the mutual aid system worked perfectly and he appreciated the assistance from the other departments. Responding were Lutsen Fire Department, Lutsen First Responders, Tofte Fire Department, Tofte Rescue, Schroeder Fire Department and Cook County Ambulance.
If there is such a thing as good timing for a fire, this fire occurred at the perfect time, with all the firefighters ready to roll. “We had 25 firefighters, six fire trucks, two rescue squad trucks and the ambulance. We had plenty of mutual aid,” said Goettl.
Despite the prompt response, the fire had spread to the roof of the cabin, which made it difficult to extinguish the blaze. The fire departments were on the scene for about three hours, with Lutsen clearing the scene at 9:45 p.m. The cabin was still standing, but Goettl said there is extensive water damage. The fire departments were able to keep the fire from spreading to the vegetation around the cabin.
The cabin owner, Gordon Charles, was not at the residence at the time of the fire.
Asked to confirm whether the fire was started by lightning, Fire Chief Goettl said, “There is a strong possibility that the lightning storm that passed through started the fire, but that is speculation.”
Leave a Reply