MARSHALL — The Marshall Fire Department helped put out a trash fire reported near the Marshall Post Office on Thursday morning. Assistant Fire Chief Andrew DeSaer said the fire was very small and located inside a dumpster outside the Post Office.

“It was pretty much out when we arrived,” DeSaer said. Post Office employees had used a fire extinguisher on the trash fire, and the Fire Department also put water on the fire to extinguish it.

Southwest Minnesota was under a Red Flag Warning for critical fire danger on Thursday. The warning means that conditions like temperature, humidity and strong winds can cause a fire to spread out of control. Relative humidity in the region was expected to be as low as 20% on Thursday, with wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour, the National Weather Service said.

–Deb Gau