Fire crews battle house fire and brutal cold

A house fire Feb. 7, at 31080 County Hwy. W, Holcombe, left little more than a pile of debris behind, but the residents were able to safely get out of the structure.

Cornell Area Fire Department chief Denny Klass says they received the call to respond to the residence of Kent and Jenna Velie, at 8:43 a.m.

“Just lucky it wasn’t in the middle of the night,” said Klass. “It could have been worse.”

Klass says the young family was able to get a few things out, as well as get warm cloths on, before they had to evacuate. He says the fire department thinks the cause of the fire was a wood stove.

“It got called in as a chimney fire, to start with,” said Klass.

He said the fire spread from one end to the other very quickly. The cold weather, around minus 20 degrees, posed an extra challenge for the fire department at the scene.

“A little problem with both engines freezing up when we first got there, but we got them going,” said Klass.

Klass says the department called in mutual aid from eight other departments – Cadott Area Fire and Rescue, New Auburn Fire Department, Gilman Rural Fire Department, Anson Fire Department, Bloomer Fire Department, Boyd-Edson-Delmar Fire Department and the Stanley Fire Department. There were roughly 75 firefighters at the scene to help.

Klass says they called so many other departments, because the cold weather freezes everything as soon as the water is gone. He says there were 11 water tenders running back and forth between Cornell, and the site, at one point.

“That kept us going,” said Klass.

He says New Auburn also brought a rehab trailer, where six or seven first responders at a time can sit in the heated trailer to warm up. Klass says the firefighters kept rotating through that.

He said their turnout gear gets wet, then freezes in the extreme cold, which can zap the firefighters’ energy fast.

Klass said the metal roof on the house also caused some problems for the fire crews, as they were having difficulty getting underneath it.

“At that time, we made the decision to call a backhoe in to tear the roof off and stuff, so we could get at it,” said Klass.

The backhoe driver was told to continue tearing down the walls of the house, since the structure was a loss anyway.

Klass says the department was on the scene for three and a half hours, plus clean-up time at the fire hall afterward.He said the departments are appreciative of donations they received, such as hot drinks, soups and other things, to help the crews get through the cold morning.

Most importantly, Klass said no one got hurt, the family or the first responders.

“Everything else can be replaced,” said Klass.

There is a fund set up at Northwestern Bank, for those who wish to donate to the family, and Lake Holcombe School is collecting loose change or gift cards for the district residents.

“With a community like this, everybody rallies behind people, like that, so that’s good,” said Klass.