December 31 – Firefighters from four Iron Range communities responded early this morning to a fire in a three story residence in the Northside area of Virginia.  The fire was reported around 12:00 a.m. in the 700 block of 10th Street North.  Firefighters from Virginia, Mountain Iron, Eveleth and Fayal were on the scene for a couple of hours.  Most of the damage was in the upper floors of the apartment house.  No injuries were reported.  The cause is under investigation, although the initial alarm came in as a kitchen fire.

December 29 – Buhl, Kinney-Great Scott and Chisholm firefighters were called this evening to a fire on Forest Street in Buhl.  The fire was reported around 6:00 p.m.  No damage estimate is available and the cause is under investigation by the Minnesota State Fire Marshal’s Office.  No injuries were reported.

December 23 – Virginia and Mountain Iron firefighters responded to an early morning accident involving two commercial vehicles.  The accident was reported around 5:00 a.m. at the intersection of Highway 53 and 12th Avenue South in Virginia.  According to the Minnesota State Patrol, a logging truck heading south on the highway collided with a Viking Electric truck.  The driver of the Viking truck, 50 year old Peter Nilsson of Duluth, was seriously injured and transported by Virginia Ambulance to Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth.  The driver of the logging truck was not injured.  The accident forced the closing of the northbound lanes of Highway 53 as wrecker crews removed debris and one of the vehicles.  The logging truck just missed hitting the nearby Holiday gas station.  Some of the logs fell off the trailer and struck a car, but the driver was not injured.

December 20 – Chisholm firefighters battled an early morning garage fire in Chisholm.  The call came in around 4:45 in the 300 block of 10th Street N.W.  Firefighters kept the fire from spreading to another nearby garage.  The garage and vehicle inside were destroyed.  The cause of the fire is under investigation.

December 15 – Firefighters from seven Iron Range fire departments worked through the night to battle a large house fire near Giant’s Ridge in rural Biwabik.  The fire was initially reported around 8:30 p.m. as an attached garage fire in the Woodlands development area.  Fire crews from: Biwabik, Biwabik Township, Palo, Lakeland, Aurora, Gilbert and Fayal Township battled the blaze in sub-zero temperatures.  The garage, house and sauna were a total loss.  No injuries were reported.  The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Minnesota State Fire Marshal’s Office.  Two local businesses, Poor Gary’s Pizza and Dave’s Alpine, rallied behind the firefighters by providing them with food and refreshments.

December 14 – A morning fire in Effie has left two people homeless.  The fire was reported around 8:15 a.m.  Arriving Bigfork firefighters found the mobile home on County Road 5 engulfed in flames.  According to the Koochiching County Sheriff’s Department, the fire started when the homeowner tried to thaw out a frozen water pipe with a heat gun.  The home was considered to be a total loss.

The next meeting of the East Range Fire Department Coalition is set for Wednesday, December 18, at 7:00 p.m. at the Aurora Fire Department.  The East Range Fire Department Coalition is made up of over a dozen Iron Range fire departments.  For more information, contact ERFDC President Peter Makowski at 218-749-7600.

Rice Lake Township Fire Chief Matt Frantz, 42, passed away unexpectedly while at work on Monday, December 9 in Duluth.  His passing is being considered a Line of Duty Death (LODD) since Chief Frantz responded to a chimney fire within 24 hours of his untimely death.  Chief Frantz joined the Rice Lake Fire Department in 2000 and was named fire chief in 2009.  Services were held Saturday, December 14, at St. John’s Church in Duluth.  A procession of fire apparatus took place on Friday, December 13, from the Dougherty Funeral Home to the church.

Rice Lake Fire Chief Matt Frantz

Aerial apparatus from the Hermantown and Duluth fire departments display the American flag outside of St. John’s Church in Duluth.  Services for Chief Frantz were held today at the church.  Photo courtesy of the Duluth Fire Department.

Special Notice: A fund has been established for the family of Chief Frantz.  The fund will be used for immediate family needs and the future educational needs of the chief’s two daughters.  Please make checks payable to: Fire Chief Matt Frantz Memorial Fund, C/O North Shore Bank of Commerce, 17 East Calvary Road, Duluth, MN 55803