Damage reported after fire at historic Archer House in Northfield
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Firefighters remained at the scene of a fire at the historic Archer House River Inn in Northfield early Friday morning.
The initial call for the fire came in at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
When fire crews arrived, they reset the sprinkler system in the Smoqehouse restaurant on the building’s first floor, believing the fire had already stopped.
However, the Northfield Fire Department chief told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS it appears the fire had moved into the walls.
"(The fire) appeared to be out," Fire Chief Gerry Franek said. "The sprinkler system did its job, but evidently there must have been some structure issue that allowed the fire to get into the walls. We’ll have to investigate that."
Firefighters battle a fire at the historic Archer House River Inn in Northfield on the night of Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020.[Courtesy: Chuck Benson]
The fire chief said the building now has extensive fire and water damage. The floor is also currently unstable, so crews are unable to go inside.
The building is made up of four sections and firefighters said they believe one of the sections is a loss.
No injuries were reported, as of Friday morning, as a result of the fire.
Stay with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS and KSTP.com for updates. An earlier version of this report appears below.
Fire crews are responding to an active scene in Northfield where the historic Archer House River Inn is seen on fire.
The Archer House is a historic Minnesota hotel that first opened back in 1877. It’s considered a Northfield landmark.
There are no other details at this time on the fire. More information is expected to be learned at a later time.
This is a developing story. KSTP is live at the scene gathering more information on this fire. Be sure to refresh your feed for the latest information.