Gov. Mark Dayton will visit Madelia, Minn., on Friday morning, according to the local Chamber of Commerce, two days after a devastating fire destroyed businesses along the rural town's Main Street. Dayton plans to tour the worst-hit areas and meet with some of the business owners who lost everything in the blaze.
The fire levelled six buildings and may have damaged another so severely that it will have to come down, said Karla Angus, executive director of the Madelia Area Chamber of Commerce.
"We are rebuilding, we do know that," said Angus. The town doesn't have vacant space available to house the displaced businesses, so existing businesses have been offering space in their buildings to host some of those that were lost, she said.
The total cost of the damage as well as the cause of the fire are still being determined, she said. Insurance agents and the state Fire Marshal's office were in town on Thursday, she said.
Photo: A firefighter sprays water at smoldering ruins in Madelia, Minn., on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016. Photo credit: Associated Press
