Firefighters worked to extinguish the wreckage of a grain elevator that burned down in Russell on Sunday. Fighting the blaze was an effort that took fire departments from across Lyon County and into Lincoln and Murray County.

RUSSELL — A fire destroyed an empty grain elevator in Russell over the weekend. Multiple area fire departments worked for hours Sunday to put out the flames.

“We had pretty much all of Lyon County,” plus fire departments from neighboring counties, said Russell Fire Chief John Wiese.

Firefighters were on scene for about five hours, Wiese estimated. There were no injuries reported.

Wiese and Lyon County Sheriff Eric Wallen said the fire is under active investigation by the Minnesota State Fire Marshal and the Sheriff’s Office.

“There is a possibility it was arson-related,” Wallen said of the fire.

The Sheriff’s Office is encouraging people with information regarding the fire to contact them.

A fire at an elevator site along Front Street in Russell was reported around 9:18 a.m. Sunday, the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office said. The Russell Fire Department, Russell First Responders and Lyon County Sheriff’s Office were first on the scene.

The wooden elevator structure dated back to the late 1940s, Wiese said.

“It had been unused for probably 10 years or so,” he said.

Photos of the fire shared on social media showed large flames coming out through the elevator’s roof and sides.

Putting out a blaze the size of the elevator fire was a big task for Russell’s 20-person fire department.

“Those things don’t happen often,” Wiese said.

Other area fire departments supported Russell with manpower, tanker trucks of water, and equipment. The Sheriff’s Office reported that fire departments from Balaton, Tracy, Lynd, Ghent, Minneota, Taunton, Cottonwood, Garvin, Marshall, Tyler, Chandler and Lake Wilson, as well as the Balaton Ambulance, all assisted in responding to the fire.

Wiese said there were some key concerns in putting out the elevator fire. Firefighters needed to make sure the blaze didn’t spread to nearby structures, or start grass fires that could spread through nearby ditches and woodlands. They also had to protect the BNSF railroad line that passes through Russell.

“We were spraying water on the tracks to try and keep the rails cool,” he said. If the rails got too hot, they could warp.

The fire scene was hectic at first, while responders set up hose crews.

“It started out as complete mass chaos trying to get everything set up,” Wiese said. “Once you get everything in the groove, it starts working really well.”

It wasn’t until about 2:30 p.m. that firefighters cleared the scene, Wiese said.

Wiese and Wallen said they wanted to thank the area responders who helped put out the blaze. In a post on the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, Wallen also thanked community members who donated supplies like food and water for the firefighters.