MAPLETON, Minn. – Fire seriously damaged a Mapleton factory that produces eight-foot wide and 16-footwide mats to control soil erosion. The fire, at the Ero-Guard factor, was stubborn. It burned through the dry piles of straw, excelsior and cocoanut used to manufacture giant rolls of for groundcover. One firefighter from nearby Minnesota Lake was sent to a hospital for exertion. There were no other injuries. The fire was inside the Ero-Guard plant at 412 State Highway 22 on the south end of town A passerby reported the fire about 9:20 a.m. It burned through the afternoon. Fire crews responded from Amboy, 11 miles away; Easton, 15; Good Thunder, 11; Lake Crystal, 28; Minnesota Lake, 9; Pemberton, 14; St. Clair, 15; Vernon Center, 13; Winnebago, 10; and Wells, 18.
Unrelenting smolder. Six hours after Ero-Guard fire started. Image: Kyla Jackson