Ellsworth's 114-Year-Old City Hall Torn Down After Fire

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Officials don't yet know what sparked a fire that destroyed a historic Minnesota town hall.

Someone spotted flames and smoke in the Ellsworth City Hall in Southwest Minnesota around 6:15 a.m. Tuesday and called 911.

Firefighters and heavy machinery filled downtown for most of the afternoon.

Neighboring departments were needed to fight the fire.

City Hall typically serves as a fill station for the city's fire trucks, so they had to go elsewhere for water.

"It's a community that comes together, so Ellsworth will come together and we'll be OK, and we'll be strong because we'll work together to see what the future will bring," Ellsworth City Council member Paul Snyder said.

City officials salvaged what they could from the offices before the fire spread but the 114-year-old building could not be saved.

Today, an excavator began tearing it down to protect the city's water tower.