First Lutheran food stand damaged by fire


A long time staple of the Pipestone County Fair will not be active during this year’s fair, which began Wednesday, Aug. 3. First Lutheran Church’s food stand was rendered unusable by a fire Sunday afternoon.

Mark Zinnel, the custodian at First Lutheran, said Monday morning that people had been at the food stand Sunday afternoon cleaning and preparing for the fair and left about 4 p.m. The fire was reported at 5:35 p.m., according to the Pipestone County Sheriff’s Office.

Zinnel said carnival workers noticed smoke and then fire coming from the building and called 911. Pipestone Fire Chief Mike Bloemendaal said that when he arrived at the scene there were flames coming out the roof of the structure. He said it took about an hour for firefighters to put out the fire.

Bloemendaal said the fire began in the electrical panel. He said the people who were there earlier preparing the building for the fair turned on a refrigerator, freezer and other items and the structure’s older electrical system might have been overloaded.

Zinnel said the church had not yet decided what to do going forward, but that the building will have to be torn down and a new one built if the church plans to continue to have a food stand at the fair. He said the church’s executive committee was going to meet Monday night and would likely discuss the matter then.

Zinnel said the food stand has been at the fairgrounds for over 50 years and was remodeled about 10 years ago. It was operated by youth from the church during the fair each year and the proceeds were used for youth activities and church projects.

The Pipestone Fire Department, Pipestone County Sheriff’s Office and Pipestone County Ambulance responded to the fire.