ALBERT LEA – Firefight-ers continued to struggle against a blaze at Farmland Foods into this morning as the fire raged southward within the building.

Monday, July 09, 2001

ALBERT LEA – Firefight-ers continued to struggle against a blaze at Farmland Foods into this morning as the fire raged southward within the building. Crews expect another full day of work before the flames are under control.

The fire, which started Sunday, apparently leaves more than 700 out of work and the future of Albert Lea’s second-largest employer in doubt.

Sixteen fire departments from across the region responded as hundreds of people looked on from the parking lot and surrounding streets. As dawn broke today, many volunteer firefighters had to leave for their day jobs, leaving the scene short of manpower.

Firefighters and police responded to a fire call at 5 p.m. They thought the fire was under control in the first moments after arriving, but the fire spread deeper into the Farmland complex

By 5:30 p.m., the fire caught in the roof of the building and spread across other buildings, Albert Lea Police Lt. Tim Matson said.

Fire officials sounded an all-call, pulling firefighters from all over Freeborn County and several surrounding communities, Albert Lea Fire Inspector Doug Johnson said.

"Basically, they just said whoever’s got men, send them," Johnson said. The plant contains several flammable materials, including acetylene, anhydrous ammonia and liquid oxygen, a firefighter said. At 2 a.m. today, they still were trying to drain large tanks of anhydrous ammonia. Crews Sunday focused their attention on keeping ammonia pipes atop the structure cool as the fire burned in the buildings below.

By 10 p.m., the fire had engulfed several stories of the old cooler complex. Flames licked the Farmland sign perched on top of the structure. At least three floors of the building were engulfed, Johnson said.

Shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday, departments began hauling water to the scene with tanker trucks. Officials were concerned Farmland’s water supply would run out, or the fire would spread to mechanical rooms, shutting off the pumps, but the water held up through this morning. Crews were pumping about 3,000 gallons of water onto the inferno each minute.

Departments tried to get firefighters in the building Sunday, but abandoned the effort when the fire became too hot. The layout of the complex made entry difficult, Johnson said. It also made it hard for firefighters to contain the fire from the outside, Albert Lea Fire Chief Rich Sydnes said.

Sydnes said he had enough personnel and equipment on the scene Sunday, but getting close to the blaze was the biggest challenge.

"We can’t get at it. There’s no logical place to cut it off," he said. "Every time we think we’ve got it, we get another hallway (on fire)."

Upper floors within the building had collapsed by this morning, making it too dangerous when firefighters again tried to enter the building on the lower floors. Crews extinguished the fire in the northern part of the facility, including in a small storage structure and in the cooler complex. But Sydnes said there was no hope of putting out the rest of the fire unless firefighters could enter the large, brick cold-storage area where the blaze was concentrated this morning.

No serious injuries were reported, although two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion at the Albert Lea Medical Center emergency room. They later returned to the scene, he said.

Farmland officials would not speculate on the cause of the fire, but workers said stray sparks from contractors’ pipe cutting began the fire in a box storage room to the north of the plant.

Several contractors were in the building when the fire started, Farmland plant manager Ray Roberts said. Few Farmland employees were working at the time, and no one was injured. He wouldn’t speculate on the cause or how long the plant would be closed.

Salvation Army volunteers were on the scene, offering firefighters and law enforcement officials water, Gatorade and hamburgers. At 9:30, they had served about 70 people, said Capt. Jamie Pennington, who became aware of the fire as he was driving home after the weekend.

"I was stopping back from the Cities and noticed the crew here, and I asked them if they needed some help," he said.

Albert Lea police called in about 20 officers from all shifts to control traffic and keep order at the scene Sunday night, and several Freeborn County Sheriff’s Department deputies also responded. At around 9 p.m., they cleared bystanders from the south side of the plant and from the parking lot, afraid hazardous materials could catch fire and explode.

"Man, this is like something you see in movies," said Ron Nelson, who pulled in to Albert Lea Sunday night after he saw the smoke from Interstate 35. "I had to see what was going on."

Albert Lea Mayor Bob Haukoos will meet with local legislators to apply for relief from the state today. Other areas have gotten unemployment benefit extensions and education credits, he said. Haukoos, a former firefighter, was unsure what the city could do to help Farmland and its employees, but said the council would look into it this week.

"We’ll do anything we can," he said. "We have 700 families involved, and we’ll do anything we can to ease the pain."

The company was in the middle of a major remodeling project, and had planned to add several hundred new jobs by this fall, he said.

If the building can be salvaged, rebuilding will not be easy, Haukoos said.

"It’s not going to be a month or two job," he said. "It’s going to be a big job to get it back in service, but it’s a huge employer and we hope they do."

Once the building is declared safe, Johnson and the Minnesota fire marshal will investigate the cause of the blaze.

Call Jennifer Hemmingsen and Chris Foster at (507) 379-3438 or e-mail them at news@albertleatribune.com.