Jeff and Michelle Van Hee got the call around 6 a.m. on Feb. 3, about the time their alarm usually goes off. Phone calls at that hour are rarely good news, and this was no exception.
"I could tell by Michelle's reaction that it was big," said Jeff. "Of course, you think about relatives and friends."
But this call, from one of their employees at the Madelia Times-Messenger, was not something they could have predicted: Their town was on fire.
That fire would eventually consume a large section of Madelia's downtown, ripping through or seriously damaging Kay's Upholstery, the Culligan shop, Tressa Veona Salon, La Plaza Fiesta restaurant, Hope & Faith Floral & Gifts, the Reed Gethmann dental clinic and American Family Insurance.
The Van Hees own the town's newspaper, so they knew covering the fire would be important to the community. They had already put that week's issue to bed, and it was scheduled to be printed later that morning. A blizzard had dumped 10 inches of snow on the area, and the Van Hees were stuck just outside of town, their house and driveway buried.
Michelle pulled on her boots and trudged to the road, where an employee picked her up. She got to the scene, took photos and videos, then got back to the paper to write the most important story in the town's recent history. The printer pushed back the deadline so Van Hee could get the story. A powerful photo of firefighters among the smoldering ruins, beneath a large American flag, covered the front page of the newspaper that same day, with a one-word headline: "Devastation."
"We know all these people," said Michelle. "It's not just a news story, it's our lives."
Nearly three weeks later, there is a different story line to follow. There is still grief over the tremendous loss, but there have also been remarkable signs of resiliency as nearby towns and cities have rushed in to help, raising more than $300,000, and counting. On Friday alone, Greater Mankato Growth brought a check for $78,000 and the city of New Ulm brought more later in the day.
