FAIRFAX, Minn. (KEYC) – Around 4:30 Sunday morning, the Fairfax Fire Department responded to a fire in the downtown area.
The department reported that the three damaged buildings were a total loss.
Fairfax was assisted by ten other agencies, including eight fire departments, the Renville County Sheriff’s Office and the Central Region Cooperative.
Nancy Jo Goehnert owns Smoky Hollow Cafe, one of the buildings destroyed in the fire.
The cafe was the only complete business loss as the other two units were empty.
“My customers miss me so much, I have to go and do something,” Joe Goehner said.
Jo Goehnert spent the day trying to salvage what she could from the building, and says there’s a tough road ahead, but she’s not discouraged.
“There’s nothing left, that’s for sure. It was completely destroyed. So find me a building, a grill and a pot of coffee and I’ll open it. she said.
Jo Goehnert was met at the scene by friends and community members, all trying to comfort her during her difficult time.
The Fairfax community is like her family, she said, and it takes a lot more than that to keep them from helping each other.
“It took a village to start this thing five years ago, and it’s going to take a village to keep it going, and I have no doubt that this town is going to be behind me and support me. Not financially, I’m not saying they should, I’m just saying support me with their kindness and I know that will happen,” said Joe Goehner.
The Fairfax Police Department said the cause of the fire, which destroyed about 150 structures, remains under investigation.
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