Sunday fire damages Gaylord Unidoor plant

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

GAYLORD--Much of the Unidoor Corporation's door-manufacturing operations was destroyed in an early-morning fire Sunday.

The fire which was concentrated in the main building's warehouse and machine-room areas was reported about 3:15 a.m. when a Gaylord police officer spotted flames and smoke coming from the building, Fire Chief Dennis Grack said.

"It was going pretty good when we got there," Grack said.

Fire units from Glencoe, Arlington, Green Isle, Henderson, New Auburn and Winthrop joined the Gaylord Fire Department in battling the blaze throughout the morning.

"It was a difficult fire to put out because there was too much smoke and flame for us to get inside to fight it," Grack explained. "Everything had to be done overhead from the outside."

Firefighters managed to prevent the fire from entering the attached office area, however.

"Although the offices had water damage, we got their records and even their computer out without damage."

Warehouse areas where wood for fabricating doors and wooden pallets were stored were left "to burn themselves out," Grack said. "What was thought to be a flare-up later in the morning turned out to be the propane tanks on their front-end loaders exploding."

Two metal buildings used for door fabrication, separated from the main building by a 15-to-20-foot alley, were not touched by the fire, Grack said.

There wasn't an immediate estimate of damage, Grack said, and by Sunday afternoon, the fire marshal was able to get into the damaged area to try to determine the fire's cause.

"The owners were just devastated by this," Grack said. "We haven't had a fire this big in the 30 years I've been on this fire department."

Ironically, Gaylord's last big fire was at the "exact same location," Grack said, when the Eastland Feed Mill burned.