Crews Battle Blaze At Ren Fest
SHAKOPEE, Minn. (WCCO) -- Crews were called to the Renaissance Festival in Shakopee to do battle with a fire that broke out just a day after high winds could've made the damage much worse.
"If this would've been yesterday, that whole place would have gone," said Joel Zulkosky, who runs a booth just a few down from where the fire broke out and saw the flames. "Scotch Eggs is gone, the pizza booth is gone, the soup booth is gone and the sub booth is gone."
According to authorities, the fire appears to have begun inside one of the festival's food booths. The fire started at about 6:15 a.m. Friday.
Crews from seven surrounding communities responded to the scene, including departments from Shakopee, Chaska and Jordan. Seven tankers were at the scene.
It took until about 7:30 to extinguish the fire.
About six food booths were impacted by the fire, but no one was injured.
"These are 40-year-old booths. These booths are close to each other and we always worry about this here," said Renaissance Festival artistic director Carr Hagerman. "If this had happened a week later or in the middle of an offseason, it could have taken a lot more booths."
Dealing with the fire in this location presented a challenge because there are no fire hydrants on the grounds, and crews needed to actually bring the water onto the grounds.
"This area out here is hard to maneuver around to start with. It's very tight quarters. We had some challenges," said Shakopee Fire Chief Rick Coleman.
Investigators are still looking into what may have caused the blaze.
This is the final weekend for the Renaissance Festival, and authorities said it would be open for business.
"The show must go on," said Hagerman.
NewsRadio 830 WCCO's Edgar Linares Reports
