Small cabin destroyed by fire in Grand Marais

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office received a 9-1-1 call at about 8:30 p.m. on Friday, January 4, reporting a possible structure fire at 12 Nelson Trail in Grand Marais. The caller said there was no fire, but a great deal of smoke was coming from the small cabin.

The Grand Marais Fire Department, Maple Hill Fire Department, and Cook County Ambulance were paged to respond. The fire departments staged along Highway 61 and in the nearby Aspen Inn parking lot.

Firefighters entered the structure to locate the seat of the fire, while others protected the adjacent structures. They located the seat of the fire and were able to knock it down within about 10 minutes. Firefighters remained on scene to ensure the fire was completely out.

Emergency responders were clear of the scene by 10:30 p.m.

The individuals renting the cabin were not home at the time of the fire and there were no injuries.

The cabin suffered significant damage and is likely not salvageable.

The State Fire Marshall inspected the structure on January 5 and said the fire was not an arson incident. The suspected cause of the fire is an electrical issue.

WTIP contacted Grand Marais Fire Chief Ben Silence to see if he had any comment about the fire. He said, “I’m very proud of our fire departments. We’ve had two good ‘saves’ in the last three weeks. I’m proud of their hard work.”