Fire leaves farm town asking, what next?

CLINTON, MINN. – All day Sunday, Dave Alberts watched as the grain elevator that has towered over this western Minnesota prairie town for decades burned.

He saw firefighters from a dozen small-town departments race in amid sweltering summer heat with hopes of dousing the blaze and area farmers drop daily chores and field work to haul in extra water. Gawkers crowded in, too, drawn by the flames and billowing smoke that could be seen for miles.

"There were more people in town yesterday than ever before," said Alberts, a Clinton native and retired president of the local bank.

https://www.startribune.com/fire-leaves-farm-town-asking-what-next/600081728/