Fire destroys Blanchard building

BLANCHARD — A fire destroyed the production building of a furniture-making business between Spirit Lake and Blanchard on Tuesday.

Wayne Nowacki, fire marshal for Spirit Lake Fire, estimated the loss of the 3,000-square-foot Luck EG Post and Rail building at 90 percent.

“It could be up to a half-million-dollar loss,” Nowacki said. “It’s an old building, but it’s going to cost to replace it. There was also about 15,000 board feet of lumber and commercial-grade machinery such as sanders and saws. It wasn’t junk.”

The cause and point of origin have not been determined and are under investigation. There were no injuries.

The company’s office building, which is separate from the production area, was spared.

The fire was reported at 11:40 a.m. Responders, which also included Northern Lakes and Timberlake, cleared the scene at 4:45 p.m.

“With that kind of facility, there’s lots of possibilities (as to the cause),” Nowacki said. “Until we dig in, it would only be a guess.”

Employees were reportedly on their lunch break when the fire was reported.

Spirit Lake Fire Chief John DeBernardi said the wooden structure with steel beams was about 50 percent involved when fire crews arrived.

The site was formerly used to manufacture posts and poles.