A late night fire last Friday night destroyed much of the Russell Erickson farm in Becker Twp. due to possibly a lightning strike. Russell’s nephew, Alex, works the farm with his uncle and was the one who spotted the fire and called 911 to report it.
“With the impending snowstorm coming, I was working pretty late — pushing maybe 11 p.m. or midnight,” said Alex. “I stopped to check on the batch of new kittens around 11 and went inside a while after.”
Alex said sometime around 12:30 a.m. or so, he went to the kitchen and noticed flames coming from the polebarn as he looked through the large kitchen window.
“I called 911 and threw on a coat and boots and headed to the barn,” he said. “There were 30mph winds coming out of the east so I was worried about it spreading fast.”
Alex said it probably took firefighters a half hour to get to the farm due to weather conditions at the time and while he waited he put out embers and kicked them away from the machinery. Within minutes, the polebarn was engulfed in black smoke and he couldn’t breathe well.
“The heat was unreal,” he said.
The flaming polebarn was only 30 feet away from the dairy barn and Alex wanted to make sure the dairy barn stayed safe. The fire stayed within the steel structured barn that housed heavy equipment, tractors, feed and other items.
Erickson said he estimated there were probably 45 firefighters on hand eventually from six different area fire departments (Becker/Santiago, Clear Lake, Foley, Big Lake, Elk River and Zimmerman).
However, the fire consumed over half of the Erickson farm’s machinery including their grinder/mixer, a combine, four tractors, an antique tractor and hay (three thousand bales) — all pivotal items necessary to running a productive dairy farm.
“Every bale of straw we owned is gone,” Alex said. “We lost all our protein feed (20 tons) we just had delivered. We also lost 70-80 tons of straw and alfalfa.”
Firefighters fought the blaze for eight hours and the rubble was still smoldering several days later. Two buildings were destroyed.
An insurance adjuster and fire inspector both visited the farm earlier this week. The tractor and mill that had each been used that day were ruled out as possible causes of the fire. The inspector believes it may have been a lightning strike, but for now he is running tests and gathering more information on the inferno.
Tom Barthel, a neighboring farmer and friend of the Ericksons has offered his grinder/mixer to help the Ericksons stay in business.
“Russell’s brother, Roger and his wife Sandy — along with their son, David — have been a tremendous help,” said Alex. “Allowing Russell to borrow equipment and store several hundred bales of hay plus protein feed at their century farm one mile north of our place. That is until we figure out what to do for storage going forward.”
“Family friends, Paul and Neil Schut have also been very helpful since learning of the fire,” Alex said.
Russell’s plan for now is to rebuild as best he can and keep the farm functional for the time being. Alex is certain there are some elements for the farm that won’t come back because insurance can’t possibly cover all their tremendous losses.
“We’ll have to learn to live without some things going forward,” said Alex. “It’s been a horrible thing but at least the animals remained safe and our other structures.”
The Erickson farm has been in business since 1949 when Russell’s parents, Ernest and Elaine, started it nearly 70 years ago. Russell took over the farm in 1998 and Alex has been working at the farm full-time since 2008.
The Ericksons own 175 head of cattle and currently milk 65 (holstein) cows.
“My grandpa built the polebarn in 1976 and put up the quonset hut from the Minnesota State Fair in 1997,” Alex said. “Grandpa passed away unexpectantly in 1998. I was just a young boy, but I worked side-by-side with him on this farm since I took my first steps. Being in those buildings daily made me feel closer to him.”
“Many of the tools and items hanging on the walls of the polebarn were hung there by my grandpa,” Alex went on to say. “Seeing them burned up was tough. The fire has been a big loss and emotionally taxing — yet we are counting our blessings no animals or other buildings burned. My Grandpa Ernie was proud of the family farm. Russell and I consider it a privilege to carry on his legacy.”
