RACINE – The Minnesota State Fire Marshall will investigate the cause of a house fire Monday morning in Racine Township.

Tuesday, June 27, 2000

RACINE – The Minnesota State Fire Marshall will investigate the cause of a house fire Monday morning in Racine Township.

The fire was reported at 10:30 a.m. Monday, and Grand Meadow and Stewartville volunteer firefighters responded.

When they arrived, they found the Raymond and Susan Gilbertson home, located west of the village of Racine, engulfed in flames.

The house and its contents were a total loss, according to a Mower County Sheriff’s Department report.

No one was home at the time of the blaze, and the parents said the last people in the house were their sons, who left the residence 45 minutes before the fire was reported.

No cause was immediately known and no dollar estimate made of the Gilbertsons’ loss.

Police suspect arson

Arson is blamed for a fire that caused damages to one of the Austin Area Chamber of Commerce’s concrete pigs.

The pig was located outside Alpha Orthodontics, 700 First Ave. SW.

When Austin Police Department officers arrived at the scene, they discovered a hat and shirt costume worn by the 400-pound concrete pig purchased by the business was destroyed by fire.

An empty package of cigarettes was found at the scene.

This is the second time Alpha Orthodontics has been the target of apparent vandalism of the Chamber of Commerce promotional pigs.

The first pig displayed at the business was stolen. Later, another concrete pig on display at Target Store of Austin was also stolen.

Two other pigs have been the victims of vandalism.

There are 40 pigs still on display throughout the city.