I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
Jan. 14, 2000
By Devlyn Brooks
A Turtle Lake Township home was destroyed by fire Thursday afternoon, leaving the Kevin and Jodi Pranke family homeless and a 14-year-old boy with minor burns.
The Bemidji Fire Department responded to the call about 1:45 p.m. Thursday, after the boy used a cell phone to report the house fire to 911, according to Fire Chief Bill Rabe.
More than 20 firefighters and five vehicles responded to the blaze, which started near a wood stove located in the two-story home's first floor.
Bemidji Fire Department Engineer Kelly Skime said Thursday night that the probable cause of the fire was "improper use of the wood stove."
The Fire Department fought the blaze for about four hours, leaving the scene about 5 p.m., Skime said.
He added that the garage was probably saved, as well as a boat. He described the house as "a total loss." The boy sustained some first-degree burns on his nose and ears, according to Rabe, and the boy's hair was singed.
The house, at 3156 Campbell Lake Road N.W., is located about eight miles north of Bemidji and two miles west of Turtle Lake.
Rabe said when the department arrived, the western side of the house was engulfed in flames, but more importantly, they couldn't locate the boy who called in the fire.
"We knew the kid was outside, and he said his dog wanted to go back in," Rabe said. "When we got here, the kid was not home, but thankfully he'd went to a neighbor's."
Rabe said the fire started around the stove in the basement of the home, and burned through the ceiling directly above it. It then spread through the rest of the house.
Dry hydrant used
Rabe and Skime said this house fire was the first time the Fire Department was able to use one of its three dry hydrants it installed in Beltrami County last summer.
Dry hydrants are made from two pieces of PVC pipe connected together with elbow joints. One end is placed in a body of water -- such as a lake, slough, river or pond -- and the other end extends above ground, close to the road.
The submerged end is placed about 6 feet below the water's surface, with a filter at the end, keeping sand, dirt, weeds and other materials out of the water fed through the pipe.
Then, in case of a fire outside of city limits, fire engines can hook up to the dry hydrants and not have to reload in town.
"It worked like a champ," Skime said Thursday.
The Fire Department used the dry hydrant located on Beltrami County Road 15 between Little Turtle and Big Turtle lakes. The other two are located on Beltrami County Road 20 by Long Lake and Beltrami County Road 23 near Turtle River and Castle Highlands Golf Course.
The hydrants cost about $600 a piece and were paid for by a grant from the state Department of Natural Resources Conservation Service.
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