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Cause of fire at Manley Tire & Oil unknown
By By Jill Meier
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EmailDecember 31. 2009 2:35PM
Trudy Deutsch stood at her kitchen window Thursday afternoon looking at the still smoldering charred remains of a portion of her business, Manley Tire & Oil. The station is located about a mile east of Valley Springs.
No more than six feet away from the kitchen sink were remnants from a fire started by unknown cause as of Thursday. Both the state fire marshal and insurance adjuster are scheduled for on site visits today, New Year’s Day.
“It was very nerve wracking to watch them fight a fire that I could stand and watch from here,” Deutsch said. “Pretty soon, we had to go outside; it was a pretty helpless feeling.”
But Thursday afternoon, Deutsch was thankful to be standing in her kitchen with her bustling tire and oil business operating as usual.
About 11 p.m. the night before, a trucker banged on the Deutsch’s front door alerting Trudy and husband John that smoke was billowing from a building lodged between the station’s office and family’s adjoining home and over-sized mechanic’s shop.
“He said he drives by here all the time and this time, something didn’t look right,” Trudy said, “so he stopped and pounded on our front door.”
The Valley Springs Fire Department was on scene within minutes of the call, but by that time flames were shooting out of the north side of the first shop, said Valley Springs Chief Don Johnson. Providing mutual aid were departments from Brandon, Garretson, Hills, Beaver Creek and Luverne, Minn., and the Splitrock Fire Department.
Johnson said both buildings and its contents are a total loss, and probably the west wall of an adjacent building.
“We contained it to one shop,” Johnson said. “It’s bad, but they’re lucky they didn’t lose the new shop or the truck shop, and they got to keep their house. Every now and then you have a little luck.”
This is the second fire Johnson has fought at Manley Tire & Oil; it’s the third for the Valley Springs Fire Department. The business office caught fire in 1987, and in 1994, Christmas lights were the cause.
Firefighters remained on scene until 4:30 p.m. and no injuries were reported.
Deutsch said she had no idea the value of the buildings or its contents. Among the contents were show tires, repair equipment, a skid loader, a Kaboda and an inventory of after-market rims.
“I have to credit the fire departments and the electric company for coming out and shutting everything down,” Deutsch said. “They did a great job. They’re absolutely fabulous people.”
No more than six feet away from the kitchen sink were remnants from a fire started by unknown cause as of Thursday. Both the state fire marshal and insurance adjuster are scheduled for on site visits today, New Year’s Day.
“It was very nerve wracking to watch them fight a fire that I could stand and watch from here,” Deutsch said. “Pretty soon, we had to go outside; it was a pretty helpless feeling.”
But Thursday afternoon, Deutsch was thankful to be standing in her kitchen with her bustling tire and oil business operating as usual.
About 11 p.m. the night before, a trucker banged on the Deutsch’s front door alerting Trudy and husband John that smoke was billowing from a building lodged between the station’s office and family’s adjoining home and over-sized mechanic’s shop.
“He said he drives by here all the time and this time, something didn’t look right,” Trudy said, “so he stopped and pounded on our front door.”
The Valley Springs Fire Department was on scene within minutes of the call, but by that time flames were shooting out of the north side of the first shop, said Valley Springs Chief Don Johnson. Providing mutual aid were departments from Brandon, Garretson, Hills, Beaver Creek and Luverne, Minn., and the Splitrock Fire Department.
Johnson said both buildings and its contents are a total loss, and probably the west wall of an adjacent building.
“We contained it to one shop,” Johnson said. “It’s bad, but they’re lucky they didn’t lose the new shop or the truck shop, and they got to keep their house. Every now and then you have a little luck.”
This is the second fire Johnson has fought at Manley Tire & Oil; it’s the third for the Valley Springs Fire Department. The business office caught fire in 1987, and in 1994, Christmas lights were the cause.
Firefighters remained on scene until 4:30 p.m. and no injuries were reported.
Deutsch said she had no idea the value of the buildings or its contents. Among the contents were show tires, repair equipment, a skid loader, a Kaboda and an inventory of after-market rims.
“I have to credit the fire departments and the electric company for coming out and shutting everything down,” Deutsch said. “They did a great job. They’re absolutely fabulous people.”
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