Historic structure burns on farm south of Burdick
Firefighters responded to a call Wednesday afternoon about a barn on fire at the farm of Naomi Nelson and the late Gene Nelson at 3014 Bluestem Road.
The building was destroyed. It was the former Burdick Mercantile and was moved to the farm in the 1940s by Naomi's father-in-law, Gus Nelson.
The fire was spotted by a passer-by, Charlie Svoboda, who called 911.
Nelson was not home at the time, and her son, Tom, was asleep. He has a night job.
The Marion County dispatcher received the call at 2:25 p.m. When a Marion County Fire District #5 fire truck from Lincolnville arrived about 20 minutes later, the barn already was engulfed in flames. Burdick and Lost Springs firefighters were called to provide mutual aid.
The fire was aided by 100-degree heat and southwest winds, which carried it rapidly through the building. Fortunately, the barn was empty, containing nothing but a few remnants of hay.
The fire spread to grass in the area, which quickly was extinguished.
All that remained after the fire was an adjoining charred upright silo and a wall section made of limestone.
Later that evening, firefighters returned to the scene to extinguish smoldering debris in another outbuilding.
According to Lincolnville fire chief Lester Kaiser, the cause of the blaze was electrical, based on others' observations. Nelson believes the fire started when an electric line came down on the tin roof, causing sparks, melting the metal, and setting the interior wood on fire.
According to Tom Nelson, the barn's stonework was done by Albert Johnson, a stone mason from Burdick who helped with construction of the Marion County courthouse in 1906. Tom said Johnson also did stone foundations for silos and other buildings. His name is carved into the concrete on the Nelson silo.
"That silo looks so lonely there, now," Nelson said. "I maybe should have it destroyed. Hopefully, the insurance money will pay for cleaning up the debris."
