On April 6, 2021 at 3:47 p.m., the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center received multiple calls of a fire in the west ditch of US Highway 71, just south of the intersection with Stearns County Road 29.
Stearns County Sheriff’s Office Deputies, along with, the Sauk Centre Fire Department were dispatched to the scene. Approximately ¼ acre of ditch was burned before the fire could be extinguished.
The cause of the fire is believed to be a cigarette butt thrown from a vehicle.