NEW: Seven fire departments battle million dollar fire near Elkton

June 30, 2022
Mike Tanner

BROOKINGS, S.D.–A costly fire in Brookings County Wednesday afternoon that was fought by seven area fire departments.

The sheriff’s department says a fire broke out just after 2:00 p.m. at 48312 216th Street, which is just a few miles northwest of Elkton.

Fire departments from Aurora, Elkton, White, Bruce Volga, Sinai and Brookings all responded, along with the sheriff’s office, Elkton Ambulance, and Brookings County Emergency Management.

Two shop buildings and many of their contents burned.

Those contents included a John Deere tractor, a 1,600 gallon sprayer, a Polaris Razor, more than 2,200 gallons of diesel fuel, and a pallet of oil.

The loss, including contents and the shop buildings themselves, was estimated at $1.1 million.

The shop buildings were unoccupied at the time of the fire, and there were no reports of injuries.

Fire crews were on the scene for more than seven hours.