Update: Fire chief says sprinkler system was a savior for Christmas Eve blaze at Ron's Repair

Julie Buntjer, The Daily Globe, Worthington, Minn.
·2 min read

Dec. 25—WORTHINGTON — A semi tractor-trailer parked inside one of the bays at Ron's Repair is believed to have been the cause of a fire at the Worthington business on Christmas Eve.

Worthington Fire Chief Pat Shorter said Monday morning that the building's sprinkler system was the savior, doing its job and keeping the fire contained — likely saving the structure.

The Worthington Fire Department was dispatched to the scene at 6:26 p.m. Saturday after it was reported that smoke was coming from the northwest corner of the building.

"The trailer was destroyed, and the semi tractor I'm uncertain at this point," Shorter said on Monday. "There is some fire damage to the roof and the immediate surrounding equipment. Other than that, there's a lot of smoke damage throughout the shop area of the building."

Shorter said Justin Luinenburg and some others were able to hook up the semi to a payloader and pull it out of the building, which really helped firefighters to get at the flames.

"It could have been a very different outcome," Shorter said. "We were lucky that the wind had subsided from a couple of days prior and we had a lot of good help."

With the timing on Christmas Eve, Shorter said the department had 22 firefighters respond to the blaze. They were on the scene for about two and a half hours. One firefighter was injured after falling due to the extremely icy conditions. Shorter said the individual was transported by ambulance to Sanford Worthington Medical Center, and was released later that night.

With temperatures hovering just below zero at the time of the fire, Shorter said their biggest challenges were accessing the fire because of the truck being inside the facility, as well as all of the steam coming from inside the building.

"The visibility was terrible," he said. "All things being what they were, though, it went really well."

Ron Prins, who owns the business, arrived on the scene about 45 minutes after the fire was reported. He and others began removing equipment from other areas of the building.

"Once they knew we had everything controlled, they moved everything back inside," Shorter said. "They got the building closed back up and got the heat turned back on."