Fire destroys warehouse in Green Isle

By KEVIN SWEENEY Journal Editor

GREEN ISLE - Sparks from a cutting torch are believed to have started a fire that destroyed Shamrock Storage, a commercial storage warehouse in Green Isle.

The fire started around 10 a.m. when workers inside the two-block long Shamrock Storage warehouse were cutting metal with a torch, according to Sibley County Chief Deputy Pat Nienaber. Sparks from the torch apparently ignited something inside the building. The workers were able to evacuate the building with no injury.

The Green Isle Fire Department was called in at 10:10 a.m., said Fire Chief Dean Stoeckman. They arrived to find the warehouse filled with smoke and intense heat.

"We couldn't fight it from the interior," said Stoeckman. "We had to pour water on it from outside."

The size of the fire strained the water supply in the city of about 400 residents. Other fire departments were called in to bring tanker trucks, and some brought aerial trucks as well.

Stoeckman said when the fire broke through the roof of the warehouse, the aerial trucks were in place to start pouring water in from above.

A total of 21 fire departments were called in to assist with the fire, most of them bringing tanker trucks to bring water from surrounding communities.

Shamrock Storage is a commercial storage warehouse that stored a variety of different items for various customers. Nienaber said no one was sure what exactly was in the warehouse, but there were reports that the contents included video game systems and cds. Whatever was inside gave off a plume of thick, black smoke that could be seen for miles away.

Green Isle City Clerk and Treasurer Paula Geisler told news sources Wednesday morning that whatever was burning "keeps going boom."

The fire was still going Wednesday afternoon, but with less intensity, said Stoeckkman. A Caterpillar-style tractor with a backhoe was used to tear down the corrugated steel walls on one side to allow better access to the interior.

Stoeckman said it would be quite some time before the fire was completely out. "We'll be here tomorrow," he said.

There was no damage estimate available for the building and its contents.

(Information from the Associated Press was included in this article.)