Man slightly injured in fire at Crystal Airport

On their first date, Ted Wyrowski flew Cretia Wyrowski in his single-engine plane from Crystal to Rochester for lunch at the local airport.

That was 15 years ago. Now, hitched, with countless air miles under their belts -- from trips to New York to those to their summer cabin near Pine River, Minn. -- the couple teared up as they spoke about Sunday's fire at the Crystal Airport, which charred their green and white Piper Cherokee Arrow and melted its windows.

"That's a wonderful airplane," said Ted Wyrowski, 67. Close behind him, hunks of twisted metal from the burned hangar that had housed the airplane smoldered.

Authorities say an unidentified man was working on a commercial-size truck in Hangar CF when it backfired and probably sparked the spectacular fire, which destroyed two planes and damaged two others at the state's fifth-busiest airport.

The blaze, which was reported just before noon, generated thick, billowing smoke that could be seen from as far as Eden Prairie, about 15 miles away. Dozens of cars pulled over on Hwy. 81 and other roads bordering the airport, which straddles the boundary of Crystal and Brooklyn Park, and gawkers clung its chain-link fencing as crews hoisted on a truck ladder doused the blaze from above.

Within an hour, the metal structure had crumpled under its own weight.

The man working on the truck, who called 911 on his cell phone to report the fire, suffered minor burns to his face but refused medical treatment, said Brooklyn Park Fire Chief Steve Schmidt. Authorities consider the fire an accident, he said.

Early damage estimates for the building and vehicles could exceed $1 million, Schmidt said.

Flammables fueled fire

The Wyrowskis arrived after three fire departments had controlled the blaze in the Brooklyn Park portion of the airport. Fire destroyed one end of the large metal building that houses 13 separate hangars. The Wyrowskis rent a hangar next to the most severely damaged part of the building.

If possible, Ted Wyrowski plans to restore the plane he's piloted for 20 years.

"I dated him because he had a plane," joked Cretia Wyrowski as she and her husband reminisced about trips to Branson, Mo., California and elsewhere.

The fire reduced the truck to its frame and a few motorcycles in the hangar were also destroyed, Schmidt said.

A volatile combination of paint, oil and other flammable materials typically found in hangars fueled the blaze, he said. "It burned really fast," he said. "Really fast."

Building owner Mike Wiley, whose family rents out 113 hangars housed in nine multiunit buildings at the airport, said that 10 to 12 planes are usually housed in the building damaged by the fire, although there apparently were fewer in it when the fire hit. Four planes were saved, he said.

Sunday's fire was not the first hit Hangar CF had taken. Strong winds knocked down the structure in 1972, but Wiley's family rebuilt it, as he plans to do this time around.

"It's just a tragedy," he said. "Things happen, but you move on and rebuild."

MAC kept airport open

The airport, which serves small aircraft, is operated by the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which once had considered closing it at the request of Crystal officials, who had been eyeing the area for redevelopment.

In December, after hearing stories about the airport's history and significance, MAC voted to keep it open. The 12-3 decision came after an earlier MAC committee had also voted to keep the airport open, as well as a yearlong MAC study on its financial viability.

MAC spokesman Pat Hogan said Sunday's fire won't affect the airport's future. The agency is looking at plans to make the airport economically viable while maintaining adequate space for flights, which could entail removing two of the airport's four runways to make room for private development such as a hotel, he said.

A proposal will be completed for public review and MAC will vote on it this summer, Hogan said.

Chao Xiong • 612-673-4391