House fires displace county residents

Mike Creger and Jana Peterson

Fires this past week have displaced at least seven people in north Carlton County.

A family of four in the lower unit of a duplex on the 100 block of 13th Street in Cloquet had to move to a hotel this week after a suspected electrical fire set a couch on fire early Saturday evening. The fire spread and there was heavy smoke damage. A woman who lived in the upper duplex was also forced to find housing and is living with family members. Everyone evacuated safely.

Early Monday morning in Thomson Township, north of Jay Cooke State Park, a couple reported a garage fire that eventually spread to their home, destroying it.

At the duplex Saturday night, Maggie Schulstrom heard a smoke alarm go off in the unit below her and two boys yelling "fire." She rushed down to see what was going on and helped family members exit the unit. The unit with the fire was home to Lena Ranta and Elisha Plews-Keinanen and their two boys, ages 3 and 5.

A police officer and crews from the Cloquet Area Fire District quickly responded. The CAFD reported that the fire was quickly extinguished as 21 firefighters responded. They were on the scene for about 90 minutes.

"The response was very good," Schulstrom said. And while none of the residents can live in the duplex, she's simply glad that "everyone got out and everyone is safe." She is staying at her parents' farm in Wrenshall.

Ranta's brother, Donovan Ranta, gave updates on the fire and his sister's family on Facebook this week. The Red Cross is providing some money for the hotel stay and Donovan started a fundraising effort on the page. A $3,000 goal was reached by Wednesday along with donations of clothing and furnishings for the family that had to leave most of their possessions behind at the duplex.

The boys' bedroom was a total loss, Donovan said.

"It's overwhelming," Donovan said of the community response.

"It's tragic, but a blessing at the same time. It's giving us a little faith in the world."

The CAFD deemed the fire "accidental" and Donovan suspects it was electrical in nature.

Lena Ranta, who is pregnant, posted her own thoughts on Facebook. "I'm grateful, overwhelmed, and stressed. But God is good and I praise Him even in these times. We are all alive and that's obviously the biggest hallelujah. Thank you for everyone's support during this adventure. We are on a new kind of journey now. Much love to everyone."

Home a total loss

Thomson Township Fire Chief Kyle Gustafson said a call came in from the Donald and Linda Jarvis home at 1:11 a.m. Monday as a "car on fire in an unattached garage" on Jarvis Road. Then the call changed to a car fire in a garage attached to a house.

Gustafson said he had dispatchers page Carlton and Wrenshall volunteer departments as he was on his way to the fire station, as they hadn't initially paged all three because it was just a vehicle fire. Once he found out the fire was in an attached garage, Gustafson asked to add Solway, Proctor and Cloquet Area Fire District trucks to provide water.

It was a tough fire, he said. Accessing water was challenging because there are no hydrants in that area, and the roadway was barely wide enough to allow one fire truck at a time.

"There are three houses on Jarvis, but it's narrow, like a driveway," Gustafson said, explaining that they had only enough space to use Esko's fire engine, along with the Carlton aerial ladder truck and tanker near the home. Two firefighters from Proctor also assisted.

Gustafson said they staged the other tankers on Murto Road, and laid about 1,500 feet of large diameter hose from Murto to the home on Jarvis.

The tankers pulled their water from the hydrant in Esko across the street from the Esko fire station.

The home was a total loss, Gustafson said, estimating the damages at close to $400,000. "When we arrived, it was already into the house at that time," he said. "It was pretty difficult to stop. We were able to save a couple bedrooms, and the homeowners were able to salvage some things in the basement [Monday]."

The state fire marshal came later Monday, and Gustafson said they feel confident it was the vehicle that started on fire first.

No one was injured. Gustafson said the smoke detectors worked and everyone got out safely.

"The family is actually in surprisingly decent spirits," he said. "It could have been worse if they didn't wake up, but they did."

The Thomson Township fire department cleared after 6 a.m., Gustafson said. Once they cleaned hoses and other equipment and reloaded the trucks, most of the department's volunteers had to go directly to work Monday. Then they had more training that night so most of the volunteers had a very long day.

He shared some advice for homeowners, especially those who live in a more rural area.

"Make sure your driveways are wide enough to get these big trucks in," he said, adding that low hanging brush and trees over a driveway can cause a lot of damage to trucks as well. "Make wide driveways and plow large areas. We've had a lot of snow this winter and it's hard to get these trucks in and out."