HOLLANDALE -&160;A blaze destroyed part of the Hollandale Marketing Association amidst stormy weather this morning before dawn.

Thursday, October 25, 2001

HOLLANDALE -&160;A blaze destroyed part of the Hollandale Marketing Association amidst stormy weather this morning before dawn.

The fire destroyed one building owned by the Hollandale Marketing Association at 300 North Central Ave. The building, about 10,000 square feet in size, was burned down entirely. Nobody was inside at the time, and no injuries were reported.

The police received the fire call around 3:14 a.m. Firefighters from 17 fire departments including three from adjacent counties were dispatched to the scene.

The building destroyed was a potato-washing facility. Hollandale Mayor Ted Radke said the HMA’s adjacent storage and office facilities did not catch fire, but there was no word yet on whether they suffered smoke or water damage.

As firefighters worked, the strong, snowy wind from west blew the flames and made them difficult to control. Since the water tower in Hollandale ran out of water shortly, the firefighters needed to transport water back and forth from adjacent communities, including Clarks Grove, Ellendale and Geneva, Radke said.

Hollandale residents lost water service when the tower was drained, but Radke said the city got pumps running and restored service by 6 a.m.

The blaze was finally suppressed around 7 a.m.

The fire is another in a series of hardships for the HMA, which has already been hurt by the poor ag economy and damaging floods this summer in the Hollandale area.

&uot;We’re optimistic, but they are already in a business that is struggling because of the ag outlook,&uot; Radke said. &uot;It was just another blow that we didn’t need.&uot;