Three departments battle fire at auto salvage yard north of Clear Lake

CLEAR LAKE — Clear Lake firefighters Monday evening responded to a huge fire at a rural Cerro Gordo County auto salvage yard.

The Clear Lake Fire Department says they were called shortly before 5:30 to B-20 Auto at 7600 300th Street north of Clear Lake, where on arrival they found 200 to 300 compacted cars stacked four high, engulfed in a large fire.

The fire bordered a nearby cornfield that had not yet been harvested, raising concern about the potential spread of the fire. Firefighters made it their priority to stop the fire from spreading and had to shuttle water from the nearest fire hydrant located four miles away.

After bringing the fire under control, firefighters used heavy equipment on-site to pull apart and spread out the compacted cars, ensuring that any remaining fire buried within the pile was fully extinguished.

The Clear Lake Fire Department was assisted by the fire departments from Ventura and Hanlontown in battling the fire.