Mayor: Grain elevator fire in Superior, Wis., will 'burn for a while'

Firefighters in Superior, Wis., battled a large grain elevator fire late Monday afternoon, the city's second large fire this year.

The former Globe Elevator burned about a mile north of downtown Superior, according to the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

Although it closed in 1988, at least one company has been salvaging century-old white pine wood for resale, said Adele Yorde, Port Authority spokeswoman.

Superior Mayor Jim Paine said on Facebook that the elevator is a large historic wooden structure that will "burn for awhile."

Paine added no one was injured and he doesn't expect damage to extend beyond the structure and surrounding equipment.

"Battalion Chief Scott Gordon tells me that this is the best-case scenario — a very hot fire burns out quickly," Paine added. "The only loss is equipment and an abandoned, unusable structure."

According to the Duluth News Tribune, Gordon said the blaze would take several days to put out.

Of the estimated $10 million worth of wood reclamation equipment on site, only a Bobcat was salvaged, according to the newspaper. Gordon said $450,000 worth of wood already sold was destroyed.

A livestream of the fire, on Duluth Harbor Cam, showed black smoke billowing from the flames.

An April 26 blast at an oil refinery sent shrapnel into a tank of asphalt, which eventually caught fire and burned for hours, sending a plume of black smoke and ash far across northwestern Wisconsin. The plant, Superior Refining Co., was fined $83,150 for 13 violations.

Karen Zamora • 612-673-4647