MARSHALL - Authorities were still working Thursday to determine the cause of a fire at Kruse Motors Wednesday night. Marshall Fire Chief Marc Klaith said a fire marshal and insurance representatives would continue an investigation through Thursday afternoon.
The fire at the Ford and Lincoln dealership on West Minnesota Highway 68 was reported around 8:45 p.m. Marshall Police officers redirected traffic on Main Street and Highway 68 while the Marshall Fire Department brought hose crews in through the front and sides of the building. Klaith said all of the fire department's trucks were called out to respond. There were no injuries reported.
On Thursday morning, Kruse Ford-Lincoln general manager Michael Crowley said he couldn't comment yet on the extent of the fire damage, or how the business would be affected by the fire, as investigations were still going on. Crowley said service customers were being sent over to Kruse's Buick-GMC dealership while the fire is being investigated.
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Photo by Deb Gau
Yellow fire line tape circled around Kruse Motors after a Wednesday night fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
"It's unexpected," he said of the fire. However, Kruse has already recovered from extensive building damage once. "We had those 70 mile-an-hour straightline winds last year."
Crowley said he was glad for local firefighters' response Wednesday night.
"We want to say thank you to our volunteer fire department," Crowley said.
Klaith said Marshall firefighters were attending a meeting at the Marshall Law Enforcement Center when the fire call came in. Having everyone nearby worked in responders' favor, he said.
There wasn't much activity at Kruse Ford-Lincoln on Thursday morning, except for staff and fire investigators taking stock of damage from the night before. Yellow fire line tape encircled the building. Klaith said there was extensive fire damage to the dealership's showroom and office area and smoke damage in other parts of the building. There were several vehicles inside the building at the time of the fire, he said, including four on display in the showroom, and two vehicles in the shop for service.