By Rich Larson, News Director
Fire broke out at Northfield’s iconic Archer House River Inn yesterday bringing the full complement of Northfield fire and rescue vehicles to the North side of Downtown and closing Division Street between 2nd and 4th Streets. 
According to Northfield Fire Chief Gerry Franek, the fire began in the kitchen of the SmoqeHouse restaurant at the front of the north wing of the building, around 4pm. Initially that fire was thought to have been contained, however the fire spread quickly to the upper floors of the nearly 150-year-old building. Smoke could be seen billowing from windows in the upper floors within an hour of the fire starting. By 9pm, flames could be seen shooting from the roof of the downtown Northfield landmark, erasing all hope that it would be spared major damage. Fire fighters, responding to calls for help from Farmington, Lonsdale, Randolph and Faribault worked alongside the Northfield Fire Department through the night trying to extinguish the blaze.
This morning firefighters were still using ladder trucks and water cannons to dump water onto the flames. Franek said in order to contain the fire to the Archer house, the fire department had to, as he put it, “open up” the North Wing. The façade walls on the third floor have been removed, and from an observer’s perspective there doesn’t seem to be much left behind the façade that remains standing.
Speaking with Jeff Johnson this morning, Police Chief Mark Elliott confirmed the damage.
“On the South portion of the building, they have not had any fire in that portion. There is some water in there, obviously, from them trying to battle this blaze, but both the North section and the center section have suffered some fire damage. Extensive fire damage in the center section.”
Last night, Todd Byhre, the COO of Rebound Enterprises, which is the company that owns and operates the Archer House said that he had been told firefighters were exhausting all options to try to contain the fire. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the hotel was shut down for months earlier this year. Byhre explained the company had taken advantage of the down time to work on marketing materials for the hotel.
“We had a photo shoot done since we’ve redone the lobby and the breakfast bar and all the rooms while we were closed. So, I just got those photos back yesterday. So that just feels sad. But, the best thing is there were minor burns to the hands of the gentleman who was working at SmoqeHouse, otherwise no one was hurt, no guests had arrived yet for the night. It’s going to be obviously a huge undertaking to get it back. But we won’t know, obviously, for a while.”
Byhre’s immediate concern was the employees of the Archer House, and the businesses housed within. He said the Archer House itself employs eight full-time workers, and a number of part timers. Two restaurants, Chapati and SmoqeHouse are also tenants in the building as is the Paper Petalum gift shop. Most of the full-time employees had been furloughed while the hotel was closed and had only recently returned to work.
Franek said there were no injuries due to the fire. One firefighter was taken to the hospital due to physical exertion, and the chief said his people are very tired, after having fought the fire for 15 hours and counting.
The Northfield police department is still controlling the area. Elliott said that Division street is closed between 2nd street and 4th street. The 300 Block 
of Division is open to foot traffic, but there are still areas where the public does need to stay clear.
“If folks could stay out of the 2nd Street to 3rd Street area, that’s the most dangerous area, obviously with the fire trucks, and we need to have space for them to work and do their job. They need to bring some vehicles in and out, and there are hoses everywhere, so we need to keep that all clear. And as you can imagine with a fifteen-hour fire, that building might not be structurally sound. If we were to have a collapse, that debris could spread, and we want to make sure nobody is in harm’s way there. And then on the backside of the building, obviously, we don’t want anyone in between the building and the river.”
This is the second fire at the Archer House in less than eighteen months. In June of last year, a fire broke out in the kitchen of Chapati, causing so much damage to the Tavern restaurant, which was at the bottom floor of the hotel, that it was forced to close. An employee of the Archer House said last night, that work on a new restaurant in that space had just begun.
