Cottage Grove is fortunate to be a member of multiple mutual aid associations which we agree to provide resources to other cities, and they agree to help us when we need them.”

Cottage Grove Fire Chief Jon Pritchard

At approximately 7:07 p.m. July 28, Cottage Grove Public Safety Department was dispatched to a report of structure fire at 6086 Summit Curve in Cottage Grove with reports of visible flames. Upon arrival, firefighters found heavy fire involvement in the attached garage that had spread to the home.
“From our initial investigation, the occupants of the home called the fire in,” Cottage Grove Fire Chief Jon Pritchard said. “There were subsequent calls from neighbors to our 911 center to report the fire.”
“The fire had progressed very quickly,” he went on. “This is unfortunately common in new homes (1990s and later) due to how they are constructed. Homes use ‘lightweight wood construction’ and more open living areas which leads to faster fire growth. Upon our arrival, the fire had already spread from the garage to the attic area which led to difficulty reaching the fire with hose lines.”
With the eight people inside able to get out safely, no one was injured, including pets. Pritchard said multiple fire hose lines and a ladder truck were used in fighting the blaze.
“The fire required multiple fire hose lines and the fire department used its ladder truck,” he said.
The ladder truck has a large hose stream connected (over 1,000 gallons per minute) to the ladder to spray the fire from overhead. This allowed for better reach and more water to get the fire under control. It took approximately one hour to get control of the fire due to the large amount of fire and large area of the home involved.”
One firefighter was assessed by EMS at the scene but not transported, the fire under control by 8:15 p.m. Still under investigation, foul play is not suspected in the Sunday blaze. Pritchard close by expressing thanks for mutual aid from other departments.
“Cottage Grove is fortunate to be a member of multiple mutual aid associations which we agree to provide resources to other cities, and they agree to help us when we need them,” he said. Due to the large fire and how hot and humid it was, we requested many fire departments. This was a ‘two alarm fire.’ Firefighting is a physically demanding and with all the firefighter gear (well over 50 pounds), it takes a lot of out folks normally but even more when it is that hot. When this happens, we proactively request fire departments to help rotate crews out more frequently. We had a great response from our mutual aid partners which included Newport, Saint Paul Park, Woodbury, Lake Elmo, Inver Grove Heights, Hastings, Oakdale, South Metro and M Health EMS. Excel Energy also responded to help control gas and electricity which is usually require for fires.”