7 months after fire, St. Charles plant still closed

St. Charles fire
Firefighters from St. Charles, Dover and Lewiston, Minn., battle a blaze on April 17, 2009 at North Star Foods in St. Charles, Minn.
Elizabeth Nida/Rochester Post-Bulletin via AP

Seven months after this city's largest employer, North Star Foods, was consumed by fire, Guillermina Sandoval still pines for her old life.

Before the fire, Sandoval, 32, lived a life of steady employment, packing and processing chicken at North Star. The job paid for the basic necessities of life and gave some sense of building toward something better. The work environment was comfortable, family-oriented.

Now unemployed except for an occasional house-cleaning job, Sandoval recalls that former, more secure life that she once had with a sadness that lingers to this day.

"If they (say) they are going to rebuild, she is thinking she will stay," Sandoval said through an interpreter.

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From the plant worker to the highest city official, there remains a common refrain to the fire of last April 17 a disaster that destroyed the North Star Foods plant, forced the evacuation of this city of 3,500 and resulted in the loss of approximately 250 jobs. It is one of mourning, as if the fire marked on this city's collective consciousness an ineradicable scar.

"It's a grieving process. It's like losing a member of your family," said St. Charles City Administrator Nick Koverman.

As devastating as the fire was, a series of worst-case scenarios that city officials feared might play out in the immediate aftermath of the fire haven't happened, at least not yet. There has been no domino effect of downtown business closures, as some worried might happen with the sudden disappearance of a $100 million business.

"The one thing that's happening is a lot businesses are still afloat and that was one of the biggest worries," Mayor Bill Spitzer said.

Nor, as many feared, did North Star's demise trigger a mass exodus of community members who were employed by the plant.

Community leaders attribute a number of factors for that collective decision. Many are still waiting to see whether North Star will rebuild the plant, a possibility city officials are "cautiously optimistic" will happen.

Another reason is today's economic climate. With a national unemployment rate above 10 percent in the wake of the national recession, there aren't that many jobs for people to migrate to even if they were so inclined.

By contrast, the unemployment rate of the Rochester area, anchored by Mayo Clinic, stands at a moderate 5.8 percent, offering the best chance for employment anywhere in the country.

Some people speculated that members of the Hispanic community might leave after the plant's demise, but many consider St. Charles their home.

"Many of the employees at North Star, Anglo and Hispanic, have a stake in the ground," said St. Charles schools Superintendent Tom Ames, who says enrollment has been minimally affected by the fire.

"These are not transient people," he said. "Many of them own their own homes. They have family here. They have friends here. Their kids have been going to school here for a long time."

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Information from: Rochester Post-Bulletin