Wadena Residents Asked to Shelter in Place While Crews Battled Memorial Day Fire

Photo via Maelvy Castillo facebook

WADENA (KDLM) – Wadena residents were asked to shelter in place due to a large fire, Monday.

Around 3 p.m., the Fire Department was dispatched to a report of a shop fire at Minnesota Valley Irrigation in Wadena. Due to the size of the building multiple agencies were called for mutual aid.

Huge amounts of smoke could be seen billowing out of the irrigation building. Due to chemicals being stored for agricultural purposes the entire city of Wadena was under a temporary shelter in place order and residents were asked to close windows and shut off air conditioning as a precaution.

Firefighters were forced to evacuate the scene of the fire for about 30 minutes after a tornado warning was issued, but were able to return to the scene around 6:30 p.m. – fire personnel remained on scene until about 8 p.m.

The building was deemed a total loss.

Fire departments from Bertha, Bluffton, Deer Creek, Hewitt, Menahga, Sebeka, Staples, and Verndale responded to assist the Wadena Fire Department. The Minnesota State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating to determine the cause of the fire.