Four-alarm fire destroys multiple buildings on Renaissance Festival grounds

A dozen commercial buildings on the Minnesota Renaissance Festival grounds in Shakopee were destroyed by a four-alarm fire on Thursday night executives declared The Shakopee Fire Department received reports of the fire shortly after p m The first engine left the station this instant and arrived minutes later because of the distance between the station and the festival grounds between U S and the Minnesota River according to a Facebook post by the department While they were on their way a large smoke column could be seen so fire administrators called for more help upgrading the call to a two-alarm blaze When firefighters arrived they encountered heavy fire conditions involving multiple connected commercial structures which included retail shops and food vendors A four-alarm fire was called and backing from area fire departments was needed to fight the blaze as well as help with other coverage in Shakopee Major update on Thursday evening April around PM a fire broke out on the grounds of the Minnesota Renaissance Festival No injuries have been informed The Minnesota Renaissance Festival will still open on August MNRenFest FestivalStrong RebuildTheMagic pic twitter com mWJhylKim MN Renaissance MNRenaissance April Water supply proved to be a important challenge leaders mentioned noting that the festival grounds are not connected to a city water system requiring water tenders to shuttle water from hydrants nearly eight minutes away In addition personnel noted access to the festival grounds was further complicated by unlit minimally maintained gravel roads latest rainfall and challenging terrain not designed for large emergency vehicles The full extent of the damage is still being assessed One firefighter from Shakopee was struck by a fire hose and had a minor injury that was treated at the scene functionaries noted The cause of the blaze remains under examination by state and local investigators but it broke out as thunderstorms were moving through the area Renaissance Festival organizers explained they were making plans to rebuild and that the event celebrating Elizabethan England would open as planned on Aug Related Articles Ramsey County to pay M to family of hemophiliac who died after arrest jailing After fire at St Paul church owner wants to secure steeple return to ministering Steeple fire at historic St Paul church likely sparked by lightning Know every move you re making Stillwater prison inmates learn life lessons playing chess Athena Bitcoin asks Stillwater to repeal cryptocurrency ATM ban