Fire destroys food booth at Renaissance Festival

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Scott County authorities were on the scene of a fire at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival on the morning of Friday, Sept. 30, 2011.
Photo couretsy Viki Martins

Fire destroyed a food booth at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival Friday morning and damaged some nearby attractions.

Festival spokeswoman Erica Christo said the fire started in the Rogue Chicken Shack on the festival grounds, sometime after 6 a.m. The blaze destroyed the booth and damaged several nearby food vendors. The blaze was put out about 7:30 a.m. No one was hurt.

A half-dozen fire departments were summoned to the scene, in part because there aren't hydrants available at the site to supply water for firefighting. Water had to be trucked in.

The fire happened on the opening morning of the festival's closing weekend. The so-called Festival Friday often includes visits by school groups. But Christo said the festival will go on.

"It shouldn't affect it," Christo said. "There will just be just an area that's roped off that was affected by the fire. But otherwise, everything else will go on as normal."

The festival runs through Sunday.

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