WINONA, Minn. – This is rhe sequence how firefighters gained control of a stubborn fire that destroyed much of the Minnesota equistruan Center f on Saturday, as gathered from Wilson Fire Chieff Josh Murphy, witnesses, and sources:
> 11:55 a.m. Wilson volunteer firefighters were called to a barn fireat theEquestrian Center on Gilmore Valley Road, not far from the station house at the Interstate 90 interchange into Winona. The caller reported that everyone was out of the building. The department has no resident firefighters, relying instead on 25 on-call volunteers. The department has two fire trucks, a bus and a heavy-duty pickup, all in distinctive yellow livery.
> The Wilson crew found the front barn in the structure fully engulfed. An attached residence for he manager’s family was heavily involved in fire.
> The Wilson crew recognized the magnitude of fire in the large complex of barns and show arenas, all interconnected through breezeways and corridors.
> Additional personnel and water tenders were requested from Ridgeway, eight miles away; Winona, 10 miles; Goodview, 11 miles; and Lewiston, 14 miles.
> The first barn at the front of the complex was fully engulfed. An attached residence, home to the manager and his family, was mostly gone.
> Firefighters focused fjrst on the burning barn to the show arena to stop the fire’s spread.
> Once the fire in the breezeway was dampened down, they began an interior attack in the arena to keep the fire back.
> More backup was requested. This included more units from Winna and also from St. Charles, 21 miles away.
> Firefighters responded by aiming streams of water from aerial fire apparatus.
> Additional water tenders were requested from Rushford, 13 mles away, and from Kellogg, 34 miles.
> An excavator was called to remove the breezeway from the arena to minimize the spread. The excavator arrived, the breezeway was removed, and the debris was pushed burning debris away from the arena.
> The Hy-Vee grocery store in Winona dispatched a delivery truck with relief food and drink.
> Fire crews remained on scene several hours, seeking out and extinguishing hot spots and monitoring the connected barns and the main arena for hidden hot spots.
> A fire watch was maintained throughout the night.
> An agent from the state fire marshal arrived to investigate the the cause of the fire. Initial indicatios were s that the fire was not of suspicious origin.
There were no injuries to fire personnel or the public, but two horses and a cat died in the fire.
Murphy. Wilson fire chief.
Ominous plume. As first crew was arriving. Image: Wilson Fire Department
Water shortage
Fire crews pumped 120,000 gallons of water on the fire. Tanker operators made 50 round trips to water sources to haul water to the scene. The fire was the largest in memory for miles around. Nearly 100 personnel worked more than eight hours, not countng overnight monitoring pf remnants.