Blast, fire leave Madelia and its people devastated
The latest edition of the Madelia Times-Messenger carries a one-word headline: "Devastation."
The accompanying photo shows a nearly block-long pile of bricks, twisted pipes and other debris along Main Street. A blaze that destroyed more than a half-dozen businesses began early Wednesday with an explosion that will reverberate in the southern Minnesota town of 2,300 people for years to come.
"I cried," said Dorothy Mccabe. "I was devastated."
Mccabe has lived in Madelia for 71 years. She said the fire is the worst disaster she can remember the town suffering in her lifetime.
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She said the fire has seared the lives of many families in town, including hers. One son lost his insurance office in the fire. Another son worked for Culligan Water Conditioning, also destroyed in the blaze. She's thankful a third fared better.
"I also have a son that has Preferred Printing, down the street," said Mccabe. "One more building and he would have been devastated, wiped out too."
A few plumes of smoke still twisted skyward from charred debris on Thursday, as fire investigators and cleanup crews continued their work at the scene. Only fragments of walls remained standing.
City water superintendent Doug Frederickson explained that workers needed to thaw snow and ice so they could shut off the leaking water lines running to leveled buildings.
When a burning building collapses, "it usually softens up the copper, so then the pipes pull apart," said Frederickson.
The explosion that started the fire was so powerful it drove shards of glass through a bank window across the street; employees found small pieces embedded in the walls inside.
The flames could be seen miles away.
Dentist Reed Gethmann still has part of his Main Street clinic, in a building whose back roof and wall collapsed. His clinic is shut down for now, and the smell of smoke hangs thick in the air.
"Fire started down the street, and because of the blizzard winds they couldn't contain it, so it just kind of went from building to building," Gethmann said. "And our building just unfortunately got caught in the back. So it looks like it's an unusable building now."
Gethmann, 60, isn't certain what he'll do. He's had the Madelia clinic for 35 years. He also has a clinic a half hour away in Fairmont, and said it's possible some of his Madelia patients can drive there for appointments.
"Life's not always smooth and fair," said Gethmann. "We'll survive, we'll get there. Just going to take a little time."
The businesses destroyed in the fire are getting some help. The Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation has set up a fund to help people affected by the disaster. Foundation President Tim Penny said the organization has surpassed its initial fundraising goal of $50,000 and has already reached $60,000.
"I know how devastating it is in a small town when any business is lost," said Penny, a former member of Congress. "But here in Madelia that could be a crippling thing ... and that's why it's so gratifying to see so many organizations step in to try to provide help so that these businesses can come back and Madelia can recover."
It's not known how many of the destroyed and damaged businesses can regroup, but city officials would like to see all of them reopen. They hope they might see another one-word newspaper headline in the future: Recovery.
