When Firefighters Saved Downtown: The Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day Fire

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

Thanksgiving Day, November 25th, 1982. After a long day of eating turkey, visiting with friends and family, and taking a nap, a 29-year-old Michael Rainville got in his 1973 Cadillac Coup de Ville and made his way to pick up his longtime friend Greg and his two sons to go to the St. Paul Civic Center to watch the superstars of the AWA duke it out in the squared circle with Nick Bockwinkel vs. Rick Martel for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship as the main event. Capping off an eventful day of eating and napping with some good ol’ wrasslin’ sounds like the perfect Thanksgiving to me.

Around this same time, two boys, twelve and thirteen, crawled through a snow fence, broke down a plywood door, and started exploring the partially demolished former location of Donaldson’s department store. As they were rummaging around, they stumbled upon some matches and a butane torch.

As Michael pulled up to Greg’s house just past 5pm, Greg, an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter, received an urgent message; Donaldson’s and the Northwestern National Bank Building were ablaze.

Minneapolis skyline during the blaze. Photo: Jim Schramm via the Old Minneapolis Facebook page 

After the two boys started the fire in Donaldson’s, it quickly spread to the fifth floor of the Northwestern National Bank Building. Eighty on-duty firefighters and eighteen fire trucks responded to the five-alarm fire immediately. Smoke made its way through the skyway and filled the Crystal Court, and the heat shattered many windows on the lower levels of the IDS Tower. The fire was spreading quickly and there was fear that all of downtown would go up in flames. Assistant Fire Chief Tom Dickinson had to make a tough phone call to his neighbor and president of the city council, Alice Rainville, my great aunt, who was in Los Angeles for a League of Cities conference. He told her that if the wind were to continue to blow in its current direction, he would have to call the Dayton family and tell them he was going to implode Dayton’s department store to act as a fire break. The fire was on the brink of being out of control.

Fifty off-duty firefighters and four more fire trucks quickly arrived on the scene to help those who first responded. Among those off-duty firefighters was Greg, whose son, Jake LaFerriere, also a former Minneapolis firefighter, is the founder and executive director of Firefighters For Healing, a non-profit organization that supports children who have experienced burn trauma as well as firefighters after a medical diagnosis as their family navigates the first hours, days, and months of their new reality.

The 130 courageous firefighters fought the fire for twelve hours when it was finally contained, with crews working until the following Monday to put out the fire completely. The firefighters did an unbelievably amazing job at fighting the fire, as it did not spread any further than the vacant Donaldson’s and the bank building, and there were no civilian injuries. Ten firefighters were taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center, treated for minor smoke inhalation, and were released in the coming days.

The aftermath of the fire

The Lindbergh exhibition in the adjoining skyway was spared.Once the dust settled, roughly half a million square feet of office space was lost and ninety million dollars of damage was done, but hanging in an exhibition on the skyway level of the bank building was a Curtiss biplane, Charles Lindbergh’s first plane, untouched by the flames.

The tragedy of the fire was followed by the gratefulness that no civilians were hurt and the realization of what could have been. If the fire happened one day before, there would have been many casualties from the thousands of workers in the buildings and in their vehicles during rush hour. If the Minneapolis Fire Department wasn’t quick to act and fight the fire in the best possible way, the heart of downtown would have been in ruin.

During this Thanksgiving week, I am thankful for many things; my family and friends, a clean bill of health, and the first responders who put their lives on the line every single day when the public is in danger, like those who were greeted by 100-foot flames spewing out of Donaldson’s and the Northwestern National Bank Building on Thanksgiving Day, November 25th, 1982.

The season of giving is upon us, and I encourage you all to pay a visit to Firefighters For Healing. From being by the side of children who have suffered severe burns to helping families of courageous firefighters who have been injured on the job, Jake LaFerriere and his organization are providing resources and hope for burn victims and their families.