Rochester Fire Department keeps fire out of garage, homes

May 2—ROCHESTER — The Rochester Fire Department responded to a garage fire in northwest Rochester on Tuesday, May 2, 2023.

A garage between two houses on the 2000 block of Valleyhigh Drive Northwest was emitting flames and smoke when crews arrived around 2 p.m. Tuesday. Brett Knapp, Rochester Fire Department captain and deputy emergency management director, said the fire likely started on a fence near the homes and then spread to the detached garage.

"Fire had spread across the fence and then onto the siding of the garage and started to go up the siding of the second home but crews were able to get water on it fairly quickly and knock the fire down and keep it from spreading into the garage," Knapp said.

The contents inside the garage are not impacted but the exterior siding has damage, Knapp said. He added the fire did not spread to the surrounding homes. No injuries were reported.

The Fire Department is investigating the cause of the fire. The Rochester Police Department and Mayo Clinic Ambulance also responded to the scene with a temporary closure of Valleyhigh Drive Northwest.

"Because this fire occurred in a residential area with the homes close together and it was extremely windy out, protecting the exposures and the fire from spreading requires quick response time and multiple crews working together," the Fire Department said in a news release.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources notes no open burning in Olmsted County with the fire danger as "very high." The Fire Department also encourages people to check the

DNR website for burn bans

when there is windy conditions and low humidity because the conditions can cause fires to "quickly spread."