Fire damages rural New Ulm farmhouse

Electrical problem suspected as cause

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Michael LaRochelle was doing some Sunday afternoon work in the utility room of his house when he left to go into town.

He returned from the trip about 30 minutes later to find smoke billowing from the roof of his home.

Firefighters from New Ulm spent close to two hours at the scene of LaRochelle's house, at 20206 Brown County Road 13, containing the fire, ventilating the house and looking into the possible cause of the blaze.

The smoke was spotted by a passing motorist who stopped at the nearby home of neighbor Julie Buntjer. Buntjer said she immediately called 911. When she went outside, she saw the smoke coming out of the south end of LaRochelle's house.

The New Ulm Rural Fire Association got out to the farm at 4:45 p.m. Firefighters instantly dashed from their pumper truck to the front door of the house, hoses in hand. More firefighters arrived later with a tanker truck and more equipment.

No one was injured during the fire but the hot weather forced firefighters to take breaks, where they splashed water on their faces and gulped down bottled water they kept in a cooler filled with ice.

The blaze attracted a few gawkers from County Road 13 and a few people even stopped to talk to La Rochelle while fire crews worked to ventilate the house by removing parts of the west side and breaking most of its windows.

New Ulm Fire Chief Curt Curry said he wasn't sure of the actual cause of the fire but said he thinks it was likely caused by a circuit breaker in La Rochelle's utility room, where La Rochelle was working just before he left the house.

"The whole house has severe water and smoke damage," Curry said. 'We're still looking at the cause but it's definitely accidental."

Sunday's fire is the latest since a May 5 arson claimed a mobile home in New Ulm.

La Rochelle thanked firefighters for their work and stayed mainly towards the far end of the front yard of his property. He said he didn't want to comment on the fire for this article.

Buntjer said she didn't notice any smoke coming from the house until the motorist came to her house and alerted her to the fire. The two houses are separated by several tall, dense trees even though they are only a few hundred feet apart. Both La Rochelle and Buntjer said they have lived on their property for 1 1/2 years.

Firefighters were able to contain the fire within 30 minutes of their arrival but teams went back inside the house twice to knock out the windows and pry loose the shingles on the west of the house to give the fire more ventilation. They went back in again to put out the rest of the blaze and left the farm by 6:45 p.m.