Home under-construction deemed ‘total loss’ following Thursday fire in Otter Tail County

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – A house under construction was deemed a “total loss” following a fire southwest of Battle Lake on Thursday afternoon.

According to the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office, on Aug. 17 at 3:45 p.m., a passerby reported a home under construction was fully engulfed in flames on the 30000 block of Stalker Lake Road.

Both the Dalton and Underwood fire departments responded to the scene and firefighters were eventually able to extinguish the blaze.

The homeowner, 54-year-old Susan Morris of Fergus Falls, was contacted and investigators determined the home was unoccupied at the time of the fire; however, the structure was deemed a “total loss.”

The cause of the blaze remains undetermined and state Fire Marshal’s Office, along with the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office, will continue to investigate the incident