Grant County - Titan Machinery burns, back in business next day

MILBANK — Even as black smoke filled the sky over the Titan Machinery building in Milbank on Wednesday evening, and firefighters worked to save the contents of the office area, the management team was making plans to have the business up and running the next morning.

And they succeeded.

The fire whistles sounded at 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, May 4, and 35 members of Milbank Fire and Rescue responded to the fire at the industrial building.

“Upon arrival, we found thick, heavy black smoke and the shop portion of the building was fully engulfed in flames,” said MFR Fire Chief Kevin Schuelke. “The whole south half of the structure was burning and the overhead doors on three sides had collapsed from the intense heat.”

Schuelke reported that the fire spread very rapidly as a result of the amount of Class B combustibles inside the building. Materials such as fuel, oil and the vehicles that were inside the building fed the blaze. There were an unspecified number of customer-owned units inside the building, along with several service trucks owned by Titan.

Hours after the firefighters extinguished the blaze with a combination of water and foam, all 16 Titan Machinery employees were back on site on Thursday morning ready for business. The corporation fulfilled the obligations in delivering agriculture vehicles to their customers as best as they could. Those who had vehicles on order that burned in the blaze were provided temporary vehicles by Titan Machinery.

The Milbank branch is conducting its operations in a job site trailer moved on to the property in the wake of the blaze.

“Our customers are our first priority during planting season and going forward. We want to keep them in the field,” General Manager Justin Berry said.

Long-term plans have not been announced by Titan Machinery.

– Grant County Review