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Last modified: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 10:16 AM CDT
Lidgerwood main street suffers major fire
by Kathleen Leinen • Daily News
Early Monday morning, Dee Krause woke in her second story apartment to the smell of smoke.
She went downstairs to her bar and found the source of smoke as her building was engulfed by smoke.
Krause called 9-1-1 and the Lidgerwood Fire Department arrived on the scene as Dee’s Bar and Grill was quickly being consumed by fire. Krause and Gordy Vosberg escaped the upstairs apartment and watched from the sidelines as her business slowly went up in flames.
Dee’s sits on Wiley Avenue in the middle of a block of businesses, a problem for the location of the fire. On the south side of Dee’s is the American Legion Hall, the Lidgerwood Library and city hall. On the north side is an empty building, Art’s Tavern and Lincoln State Bank. All of these businesses share common walls, which meant if one went, they could all go.
When emergency response teams arrived, they battled Mother Nature along with the fire. A severe thunderstorm with lighting overhead provided spectacular fireworks as men fought the blaze.
Torrential rain fell on the fire, but it took more water then what fell from the sky to stop the fire.
Lidgerwood firefighters ran out of water when the city’s supply couldn’t keep up with demand. They called for mutual aid and departments throughout southeastern North Dakota responded with help and water tankers. Before Lidgerwood knew it, there were close to 100 firefighters on the scene trying to put out the blaze.
If the fire spread beyond Dee’s, it threatened businesses up and down Wiley Avenue, Lidgerwood’s main street. Milnor, Great Bend, Fairmount, Wyndmere, Hankinson, Wahpeton, Gwinner and New Effington, S.D., departments joined in on the fight.
Mayor Dennis Schudar joined the action in downtown Lidgerwood. At 3 a.m. Schudar said the fire threatened city offices and volunteers quickly began moving important documents out of city hall.
While volunteers moved documents, firefighters kept a steady stream of water on the wall separating Dee’s from the Legion Hall on one side and Art’s on the other.
It took hours, but the fire crews stopped the blaze from burning beyond Dee’s Bar. Although Art’s Tavern suffered smoke and water damage, the building escaped being burned down.
The cause of the fire at this time is unknown.
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| A fire broke out at Dee’s Bar and Grill in Lidgerwood early Monday morning. Here, firefighters battle the blaze. Several fire departments came to help within a 50-mile radius as Lidgerwood ran out of water. photo submitted |
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