Exposed wires are to blame for a house fire in Faribault. Just after 3 yesterday afternoon, Faribault Fire responded to a house fire in the 800 block of 3 rd Ave NW. The homeowner called stating that the ceiling was hot in an upstairs bedroom and that it smelled like rotten eggs. As they were enroute, someone outside the home saw smoke coming from the attic, ran in and told the occupants to evacuate and call 911. Fire Chief Dienst reports that a connection of wires in the attic was not contained in an
electrical box which led to a fire starting in the cellulose insulation in the attic. The fire spread to two rafters and lath in the ceiling of the room. Damage was limited to the attic and the room of origin. Dienst commented, “Quick action by all involved in this incident helped limit the damage that this fire could have caused”. No one was hurt.
School referendum push continues, tours available
As more studies have been conducted on how students learn and how differently they learn, Northfield Schools Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann continues his crusade to build 2 new schools that, he says, help to fulfill their goal of reaching each student. He said, ” and there is a point where the space in the building does impact your ability to leverage that kind of instructional strategy”. A $2 mil Operating Levy and a $109 mil Bond referendum will be on the November ballot. It includes a new elementary school on the Greenvale site while repurposing the current building for Early Childhood education and a new high school that allows for much more flexibility in the setup and uses for classrooms. On a tour last week, Buildings manager Jim Kulseth shared the unique method they use for repairs that must be done in the crawl space, a sled. He said the maintenance crew uses it to put their tools and/or themselves in it to get to those tight spaces that need repair. Principal Joel Leer explained that the classrooms were all built in a uniform size with concrete block walls. What they envision are multi-size rooms and/or rooms that allow for moveable soundproof walls. The old shop class/industrial arts area inhibits the leap into the advanced digital age. Leer talked about tours of other schools where everything’s on wheels and there are garage doors on each end so that when one class lets out, they can change the space for a completely different use within minutes. Tours of the high school are available this Friday at 5:45 before the Raider football game and also before the 7pm Community wide meeting on Monday, October 16th. All of this information is on kymn.net under Upcoming Events. Another tour will be held Saturday, October 28th at 10 am. Tours will meet in the lower cafeteria.
EAB, Historic District and budget on agenda
The Northfield City council held a work session last night. On the agenda was a discussion on Emerald Ash Borer policy, an expansion of the historic district and the 2018 budget. Administrator Martig was in studio at 7:20 this morning with a recap of the meeting.
5th st. will close for NAFRS Open House
Fifth Street from Highway 3 to Water Street will be closed on Thursday October 12, 2017 from 4:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for the Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Services Fire Prevention Open House.
