HAWLEY, Minn. — Firefighters needed so much water to battle a massive grain elevator fire that they had to ask the entire city to go without water — and even cancel school to maintain water supplies, officials said.
The cause of the fire is not yet known; A fire chief had arrived Monday morning. It took firefighters from 17 communities about eight hours to extinguish the fire in the city of about 2,200 residents, which was reported Sunday around 11 p.m., Hawley City Administrator Lonnie Neuner said. He was unaware of any injuries.
Firefighters even used water from the local golf course because the city’s water tower couldn’t keep up, Neuner said. Their ladder hoses each use about 600 gallons per minute, about as much as Hawley’s system can pump, Neuner said. He expected the city to resume water use “fairly soon.”
The elevator was completely engulfed and destroyed. On Monday morning, an excavator began demolishing what was left of the structure as firefighters sprayed water on the smoldering remains.
