Minnesota governor visits site of Clinton grain elevator fire
Gov. Tim Walz, State Rep. Jeff Backer and Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen visited Clinton, Minnesota, Aug. 3 to inspect the damage from a July 25 fire at the town's only grain elevator and main economic source.
Manager of the Wheaton Dumont Co-Op Elevator, Ron Schlimme (R), talks to Big Stone County Commissioner, Brent Olson (L), and Gov. Tim Walz discuss what the granary meant to the town and all those in town it supported Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2021, after a Sunday morning fire destroyed the building. Tim Speier / West Central Tribune
CLINTON, Minn. — After a fire July 25 in Clinton, Minnesota, destroyed the town’s only grain elevator and main economic source, Gov.
Tim Walz
, State Rep. Jeff Backer and
Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Commissioner Thom Petersen visited the community Tuesday, Aug. 3, to inspect the damage left in its wake.
“The whole state of Minnesota was watching this,” Walz said while visiting with business owners and residents. “Our first reaction was relief that no one was killed, but then recognize that a community had lost a major (financial) asset.”
Multiple fire departments responded July 25 in an attempt to save the elevator, hauling in water from around the area and later asking residents to restrict their water use as the fire continued throughout the day.
Residents told Walz about how the elevator was not only an economic source but that the farmers, workers and drivers would also stop in town for supplies or a quick lunch.
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First responders from several area departments are on the scene as flames consume the Clinton, Minnesota, grain elevator the morning of July 25, 2021. The elevator is Clinton's main economic source, and its loss could have a long-lasting impact on the town's residents if the damage is deemed too large for reconstruction. Gov. Tim Walz, State Rep. Jeff Backer and Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen visited the community Wednesday, Aug. 3, to inspect the damage left in its wake. Contributed / Roland Ebnet
“It's always been a busy elevator, very busy,” said Roland Ebnet of Clinton. “Local truckers in town here had steady jobs hauling in and out of here. I'm sure a lot of truckers stopped at the convenience store and cafe. So, yeah, It’s very quiet now with all the trucks going (elsewhere).”
Ebnet talked about how there had been three grain elevators in Clinton when he moved to town decades ago. He said that the other two were taken down over the years, and that the Wheaton-Dumont Co-Op Elevator located in Clinton outlasted the other two because of its proximity to the railroad tracks but “they removed (those tracks) around the ’70s.”
With the rebuilding of the Wheaton-Dumont Co-Op Elevator being uncertain, residents of Clinton await news of what will happen in a town where so much of its economy depends on the grain elevator and the business it brought to the area.
“We have to support our local economies,” Backer said. “We saw that happen on Sunday when (they) had 19 communities who came to help and that's what west central Minnesota residents are all about.”
1/4: A cement storage room is all that remains standing of Clinton’s Wheaton Dumont Co-Op Elevator Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2021, after a devastating Sunday morning fire. Tim Speier / West Central Tribune
2/4: Governor Tim Walz talks to long-time resident Roland Ebnet about the fire at the Wheaton Dumont Co-Op Elevator in Clinton Minn. Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2021. Tim Speier / West Central Tribune
3/4: Smoke from a fire at the Clinton, Minnesota, grain elevator was visible from every corner of town the morning of June 25, 2021. The elevator is Clinton's main economic source, and its loss could have a long-lasting impact on the town's residents if the damage is deemed too large for reconstruction. Gov. Tim Walz, State Rep. Jeff Backer and Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Peterson visited the community Aug. 3 to inspect the damage left in its wake. Contributed Roland Ebnet
4/4: Flames consume the Clinton, Minnesota, grain elevator the morning of June 25, 2021. The elevator is Clinton's main economic source, and its loss could have a long-lasting impact on the town's residents if the damage is deemed too large for reconstruction. Gov. Tim Walz, State Rep. Jeff Backer and Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Peterson visited the community Aug. 3 to inspect the damage left in its wake. Contributed Roland Ebnet
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1/4: A cement storage room is all that remains standing of Clinton’s Wheaton Dumont Co-Op Elevator Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2021, after a devastating Sunday morning fire. Tim Speier / West Central Tribune
2/4: Governor Tim Walz talks to long-time resident Roland Ebnet about the fire at the Wheaton Dumont Co-Op Elevator in Clinton Minn. Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2021. Tim Speier / West Central Tribune
3/4: Smoke from a fire at the Clinton, Minnesota, grain elevator was visible from every corner of town the morning of June 25, 2021. The elevator is Clinton's main economic source, and its loss could have a long-lasting impact on the town's residents if the damage is deemed too large for reconstruction. Gov. Tim Walz, State Rep. Jeff Backer and Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Peterson visited the community Aug. 3 to inspect the damage left in its wake. Contributed Roland Ebnet
4/4: Flames consume the Clinton, Minnesota, grain elevator the morning of June 25, 2021. The elevator is Clinton's main economic source, and its loss could have a long-lasting impact on the town's residents if the damage is deemed too large for reconstruction. Gov. Tim Walz, State Rep. Jeff Backer and Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Peterson visited the community Aug. 3 to inspect the damage left in its wake. Contributed Roland Ebnet
1/4: A cement storage room is all that remains standing of Clinton’s Wheaton Dumont Co-Op Elevator Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2021, after a devastating Sunday morning fire. Tim Speier / West Central Tribune
2/4: Governor Tim Walz talks to long-time resident Roland Ebnet about the fire at the Wheaton Dumont Co-Op Elevator in Clinton Minn. Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2021. Tim Speier / West Central Tribune
3/4: Smoke from a fire at the Clinton, Minnesota, grain elevator was visible from every corner of town the morning of June 25, 2021. The elevator is Clinton's main economic source, and its loss could have a long-lasting impact on the town's residents if the damage is deemed too large for reconstruction. Gov. Tim Walz, State Rep. Jeff Backer and Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Peterson visited the community Aug. 3 to inspect the damage left in its wake. Contributed Roland Ebnet
4/4: Flames consume the Clinton, Minnesota, grain elevator the morning of June 25, 2021. The elevator is Clinton's main economic source, and its loss could have a long-lasting impact on the town's residents if the damage is deemed too large for reconstruction. Gov. Tim Walz, State Rep. Jeff Backer and Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Peterson visited the community Aug. 3 to inspect the damage left in its wake. Contributed Roland Ebnet
