(UPDATED) Fire Near St. Joseph Claims Shop, Eight Semi-Trucks
UPDATED WITH NEW INFORMATION (3-14 @ 10:00AM)
ST. JOSEPH (WJON News) - A commercial shop is a complete loss after a fire near St. Joseph on Tuesday.
The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center received the call of a structure fire at 13266 Collegeville Road (Huls Brothers Trucking) in St. Wendel Township, about 4 miles West of St. Joseph at 4:10 Tuesday afternoon.
Officials say the shop, with six semi-trucks parked inside, was completely engulfed in flames.
An employee says smoke was coming from one of the trucks in the shop; he ran to get a fire extinguisher, but the smoke was too thick to safely re-enter the building.
The St. Joseph Fire Department requested assistance from the Avon, Albany, Cold Spring, Rockville, St. John’s University, and St. Stephen Fire Departments before the fire was under control.
Officials say the shop was in a rural area, and there was no nearby fire hydrant. As a result, 8 fire tanker trucks hauled an estimated 61,000 gallons of water to the site.
The shop and semi-trucks are a complete loss, but firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby equipment and other buildings. The fire remains under investigation by the State Fire Marshall.
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