Mutual aid made the difference in fighting a downtown Austin fire that destroyed several businesses in a one-block area.

Small town fire departments who helped a neighbor in time of need.

The mutual aid came from Brownsdale, Rose Creek, Blooming Prairie and Albert Lea. The city of Austin was the beneficiary.

Austin Fire Chief Dan Wilson said the aid was needed.

“We had them paged right away after I got there to the scene. It was that bad from the beginning,” Wilson said. “We couldn’t have fought this fire successfully without their help.”

The fire erupted shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday in the 400 block of North Main Street in the heart of downtown Austin’s business district.

Not only did firefighters battle a roaring blaze in near-century old buildings, but also Mother Nature. 

Temperatures were 15 degrees below zero when the blaze started Thursday afternoon, then plunged even lower when night came and into Friday morning, when temperatures were 25 degrees below zero.

Firefighters were at the scene overnight and into Friday afternoon before being secured.

The state fire marshall is investigating the cause of the fire, Austin’s worst since Ellis Middle School and the Austin Country Club were destroyed in separate blazes in 1986.

Mutual aid — one community’s fire department coming to the aid of another — once again proved invaluable last week in Austin.

Brownsdale Fire Chief Dave Pike said, “We were paged two minutes after the Austin Fire Department got the page.”

Austin-Mower County Law Enforcement Center communications dispatchers were also praised by the Austin fire chief for their quick work, during a hectic period of time, when seconds counted toward response time.

The dispatchers also paged the Rose Creek Volunteer Fire Department after summoning Brownsdale firefighters. Next came Blooming Prairie and Albert Lea departments’ trucks and firefighters, too.

“We got the page as soon as Dan Wilson got to the scene and saw what kind of fire they had,” said Rose Creek Fire Chief Fred Ulven.

Brownsdale’s fire chief sent five fire apparatuses and 14 firefighters.

Rose Creek’s Ulven sent two pumper trucks and dispatched 12 to 15 volunteers to Austin.

The Brownsdale firefighters and equipment remained at the scene until 10 p.m. Thursday. Rose Creek’s mutual aid firefighters were released at 8:15 p.m. Thursday.

Neither departments’ volunteers suffered any injuries fighting the blaze or weather-related frostbite at the scene.

Pike said fighting a fire in extreme cold is as bad as fighting a fire in extreme heat. “Both have their own sets of challenges for firefighters,” Pike said.

Ulven said the mutual aid worked because of the departments’ cooperation and team work and communications among Wilson and the firefighters.

The Rose Creek volunteers were using their new shoulder-mounted radio system at the scene.

Pike said the Brownsdale volunteers did an “excellent job” and Ulven praised Rose Creek volunteers, also.

Blooming Prairie Fire Chief Curt Underwood was proud of his firefighters, too.

“They did a good job at Austin,” he said. “They’re always there when we need them.”

The Blooming Prairie Volunteer Fire Department was paged an hour into last Thursday’s blaze.

Underwood sent two fire apparatuses and 12 firefighters to the scene, traveling in department or their own vehicles.

They returned to Blooming Prairie at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

None of the Blooming Prairie firefighters were injured or suffered frostbite.

“Mutual aid is a great thing. When you need help, all you have to do is call for it and you’ve got it,” Underwood said.