Chisholm’s 106 year old firehall is packed with apparatus and the city’s mayor, Mike Jugovich, feels it is a major safety concern.  Built in 1908, the building has outlived its usefulness but getting money to replace the aging structure for a new municipal building may be as difficult as fighting a fire in subzero temperatures.  The firehall is located at the corner of busy Highway 73 and Lake Street, right in the downtown area.  Because of its location, fire apparatus drivers have to be extremely careful leaving and backing into the firehall.  The Chisholm Fire Department also has a station connected to the Balkan Township Garage, located just north of the city on Highway 73.  This station houses the department’s water tenders.

Ideally, the city would like to construct a nearly three million dollar complex near the Chisholm water treatment plant in the northern part of the community.  The 45,000 square foot facility would include a new firehall, city garage and space to park school buses.  The existing firehall would be renovated to accommodate more space for the police department, which is currently located in the back of the building.  Additional renovations would include elevators and other improvements to bring it up to code.

While Chisholm is in need of a new firehall, getting state bonding money will be extremely difficult.  According to State Representative Carly Melin, the state has traditionally not bonded for municipal buildings for cities or townships.  In addition, Governor Mark Dayton did not include the city’s request in his 2014 Capital Budget recommendations. In Hoyt Lakes, the fire, ambulance and police departments recently moved into a renovated building.  The facility was funded through a number of sources including a $1.6 million city bond, $400,000 from the ambulance fund and $340,000 from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board(IRRRB).  Most of the information for this story came from a recent edition of the Mesabi Daily News.

February 27 – The Orr Fire Department has a rather unusual public assist call tonight.  The engine of a Canadian National train was overheating and needed water.  The fire department was dispatched and quenched the thirst of the train engine.  Always something new in the fire service!

Photo courtesy of the Orr Fire Department

The Duluth Fire Marshal’s Office is continuing to investigate the cause of a fire at the former headquarters of Gold Cross Ambulance(211 East 2nd Street).  Just before 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 26, a Duluth engine company was dispatched to a report of smoke in the area of 2nd Avenue East and 2nd Street.  The crew discovered smoke coming from the building and requested a full alarm response.  At the height of the blaze, 30 fire personnel and apparatus from throughout the city were on the scene, along with assistance from the Air National Guard Fire Department.  The building had three occupants: RLBCI(Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indian Outreach Center), a microbrewery operation and an auto repair shop.  The fire was contained to the body shop area in the center of the building.  There was smoke damage throughout the structure.  One firefighter suffered a minor shoulder injury.  Initial damage estimates are in excess of $150,000.

Photo: WDIO-WIRT TV

February 27 – Firefighters from seven Iron Range fire departments battled a house fire in rural Hibbing this afternoon.  The blaze was reported shortly after 4:00 p.m. in the Leetonia area.  The house received extensive damage.  Firefighters had to deal with sub-zero temperatures which caused problems for the apparatus and the water supply. Crews from Hibbing, Chisholm, Keewatin, Nashwauk, Cherry, Buhl and Virginia were all involved in the firefighting efforts.  The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Hibbing Fire Marshal’s Office and the Minnesota State Fire Marshal’s Office.

We’ve added a new e-mail address for The Northland Fire Wire website and Friends of the Northland FireWire Facebook page.  The new e-mail is: NLFireWireEditor@yahoo.com.  Please feel free to use this e-mail when sending us news articles, pictures and other information.  We love to hear from our readers.

By Tony Guerra-Disaster Program Manger, Northland and North Star Chapters, American Red Cross

When northeastern Minnesota fire departments respond to house fires, they have a resource at their fingertips which they can utilize to provide assistance to the impacted family.  This resource is the American Red Cross.

Comprised of six community chapters, the Northern Minnesota Region serves 4.3 million people in 45 counties in northern Minnesota and three counties in western Wisconsin.  The Northland Chapter, one of those community chapters, serves Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, St. Louis and Douglas County, Wisconsin.  On an average, the dedicated volunteers of the Northland Chapter respond and assist nearly 120 families which have been displaced from their homes due to fire.  When called, the Red Cross can provide emergency assistance; housing, food, clothing and help with medical needs.  Referrals are often made to partner agencies to help the family in recovery.

To contact the Red Cross to request assistance for a family, please call 218-722-0071 and our regional dispatchers will contact the nearest available volunteer to respond.  After business hours and on weekends, the calls are forwarded to our answering service and they will handle the dispatching.  If you are busy on scene, a radio request to your dispatch center will also work.

If you have questions or would like a more detailed Red Cross presentation on our emergency services, please contact me at 218-722-0071 or by e-mail: tony.guerra@redcross.org

January 14 – Former Chisholm Fire Chief Bob Brown will return to the fire chief’s position on February 1.  By a unanimous vote, the Chisholm City Council said Brown was the person they wanted back at the helm.  Brown returns after about a three year absence from the department.  “I am  looking forward to the challenge,” Brown told The Northland Fire Wire.  “It’s good to be back.”  In addition to his fire chief position, Brown is the president of the Arrowhead Regional Firefighters’ Association (ARFA).  He is also past president of the Minnesota State Fire Chiefs’ Association (MSFCA).

Bob Brown-Chisholm’s new fire chief

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.