Fire damages house on North Spring Street

By KURT NESBITT Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM - A small, one-story house off 8th North Street was the site of a fire around 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

A neighbor, Aaron Nesvold, who lives across the street from the site of the fire, was outside in his yard filling up a wading pool when he heard a smoke alarm. He noticed smoke coming from the window of the house across the street and called 911.

New Ulm firefighters were dispatched to the house, at 827 N. Spring Street, at 7:29 p.m. The Fire Department's ladder and pumper trucks responded.

The ladder crew led the effort, extending the aerial out to meet the roof, which firefighters cut holes into in order to ventilate the fire.

The scene attracted the attention of many of the people who live in the surrounding neighborhood.

Onlookers gathered and watched firefighters from front yards, the edge of the alley in between German Street and Spring Street and from the streets themselves.

Police blocked off the section of 8th North Street in between those two streets while firefighters worked to put the blaze out.

New Ulm Fire Chief Paul Macho said the fire stayed on the upper floor, which was being used as a storage space.

Macho was unsure Thursday night where the fire started or how it was ignited.

The home's lower level received water damage and smoke damage but was not touched by the fire, Macho said. No injuries were reported,

The house was empty at the time firefighters arrived on the scene. They tried to contact the house's owner, Stanley Drier, but were unable to do so.