An overnight fire at the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds destroyed four buildings along food row and damaged five others.

The fire occurred on the day of the Mennonite Relief Sale, which annually draws 50,000 people to the fairgrounds.

According to Elkhart Township Fire Chief Steve Chupp, the fire department received a call at 1:27 a.m. Saturday that buildings were on fire at the fairgrounds. He said by the time firefighters arrived at 1:33 a.m., four buildings were engulfed in flames. The buildings were the Nelson’s Golden Glo building, the Dairy Goat Club building, the Goshen Noon Kiwanis building and the Psi Iota Xi building.

Each year at the fair, the Kiwanis Club grills up burgers and serves corn on the cob. The Dairy Goat Club sold custard, specialty drinks and ice cream bars.

Rulli’s pizza and salad are sold at the Psi Iota Zi building and Nelson’s offers fairgoers its chicken and chops and other items.

During the relief sale, the Psi Iota Xi building was being used for the Penny Power drop-off and the Golden Glo building was being used to sell cheeses.

The fire apparently was started when a freestanding water heater connected to a propane tank in the Nelson’s Golden Glo building tipped over, Chupp said. The water heater landed on the propane tank and broke off the control valve. The gas from the tank was ignited by the fire in the water heater and quickly set the side of the building on fire. A 10 to 15 mph wind helped the blaze spread from building to building, according to the chief.

He said the start of the fire was witnessed by four people who were cooking pork behind the Dairy Goat Club building. Volunteers for the Mennonite Relief Sale were on the grounds preparing for Saturday’s large event when the fire started.

One Elkhart Township firefighter was injured fighting the blaze. He was taken to the hospital with a laceration to this head and had the wound closed with staples, according to the chief. There were no other injuries reported as a result of the fire.

Besides the four buildings destroyed by the flames, five other buildings along food row were damaged. Most of that damage was melted vinyl siding, according to Chupp.

The chief estimated the damage to the buildings may add up to $260,000.

“It’s going to be an expensive fire,” the chief said.

According to Eric Kanagy, board member for the relief sale, power was knocked out in the east half of the fairgrounds. However, the Elkhart County Community Center building, as well as others used during the sale, run on a different electric supply, so power was not lost throughout the entire fairgrounds. Volunteers responded by taking approximately 15 generators from their homes to the fairgrounds to provide electricity.

“It’s kinda cool how people came together to help,” Kanagy said.

In spite of the damage caused by the fire, Mennonite Central Committee officials said that the relief sale went on mostly as planned, with the quilt sale — a relief sale staple — starting about 15 minutes later then planned. While Saturday afternoon was a little too early for officials to determine the impact the fire had on sales, officials were optimistic.

“It didn’t seem to impact the sale much,” said Richard Miller, groundskeeper for the MCC. “It may have taken people a bit to find the things we had to move, but things went smoothly.”

One of the burned buildings was holding approximately 100 pies, which were to be auctioned off. The pies were not salvageable. However, Kanagy said that 20 empty boxes were auctioned off, which raised approximately $5,000.

The fire provided a twist of irony, as the Mennonite Central Committee works with people throughout the world dealing with tragedies and disasters.

“This mini-disaster doesn’t compare to what the MCC has to work with on a regular basis,” Kanagy said.

“People respond to crises and are willing to open their wallets to help out a cause,” added Les Gustafson-Zook, regional associate for the Great Lakes MCC.

Larry Struble, Elkhart County Fair Board member, said that before the buildings can be rebuilt, the insurance adjusters have to assess the damage. The fair board requires companies that use the buildings to provide insurance, he said.

Robin Haag, executive director of the fair, said the fair owns the buildings, while the individual groups own the equipment.

While fair officials have already filed an insurance claim, the day of the fire was too soon for Haag to say just who will pay for what and how rebuilding will take place. “We’ve never been in this situation before,” she said.

Jay Rounds, project manager for the Kiwanis Club, said that the club would “absolutely” want to rebuild the building and be a part of the fair.

“It’s the biggest fund-raiser for us,” Rounds said. “Without it we would be selling peanuts and popcorn on the street.”

Rounds said that the project to build a structure began in 1983 and the building was constructed in different phases, with the final addition taking place approximately three years ago. Rounds explained that the Kiwanis Club had an agreement with the fair organization to own the building the week of the fair, with the understanding that the fair organization could use the building throughout the rest of the year.

“It’s a great thing to have year-round,” Rounds said. “We just want to start the clean-up when they will let us.”