Weekend house fire is under investigation

Grygla Fire Department received a call on Saturday, March 25th, at 2:12am to respond to a house fire at the old Harlan and Doris Cleven farm, which was currently owned by Loren Lusignan and rented by Jace Olson/Emily Sletten, per Bob Thompson, Fire Chief.

Assistant Fire Chief, Brad Monson, was among those who responded as Thompson was out of town at the time. He returned Saturday and was able to meet with the Minnesota State Fire Marshall at that time.

“The fire started in the garage by, at this time, an unknown cause,” stated Thompson. “The garage was attached to the house. By the time the first truck arrived on the scene, the roof of the house was already collapsed; it was a total loss,” he added.

The fire crew and sheriff’s department were unsure if anyone was home at the time of the fire and worked to figure out the current tenants’ location, which included three young children. Everybody was accounted for at approximately 5am. All items in the house, including one cat, were lost in the fire.

The fire department left the scene at approximately 6:30am. Since then, they have met with the State Fire Marshall, who will return to the scene this week to continue with an investigation.