The Hutchinson Fire Department was dispatched to a structure fire on 150th Street, Litchfield, early Friday morning.

The fire, which was called in at 4:15 a.m., appeared to have started from a burn pile, the Meeker County Sheriff's Office reported. A junked trailer, owned by Gary Lynn Fisher, was totally engulfed in flames. The fire also burned a chicken coop and corn silo.

Total damage was estimated at $200.

State Fire Marshal Jerry Rosendahl announced Tuesday that 2007 fire deaths in Minnesota reached a new record low of 40, a number which breaks the previous lows of 41 deaths in 2005 and 1987. It continues a downward trend in fire fatalities in Minnesota and across the country — a trend that Rosendahl attributes to code enforcement, public education, fire investigation, new technology and firefighter training.

“In the past 30 years, annual fire deaths have plunged from 125 to 40 because of several factors that impact each other,” he says.

An accidental spill of paint thinner started a kitchen fire Wednesday in rural Cosmos.

The fire at 58066 129th Street, Cosmos, started around 10:45 p.m. when homeowner Greg Allen Jensen accidentally spilled some pain thinner and it came into contact with a halogen work light, according to the Meeker County Sheriff's Department.

An electrical problem could have started a rural Paynesville fire Tuesday.

Eden Valley Fire and Rescue arrived at the Walter Frank Coulter residence at 55326 365th Street, Paynesville, at 5:48 p.m. to find flames burning the exterior of the residence.

The Grove City Fire and Rescue responded to a house fire shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday evening.

Crews were dispatched to 56395 245th Street, Grove City, where they found the house, owned by Mark Marvin Kohout, completely engulfed in flames, according to the Meeker County Sheriff's Department.

Fire destroyed a garage in rural Dassel Tuesday. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The Dassel Fire Department responded to the fire at the Kevin Mark Anderson residence at 72516 242nd Street, Dassel, at 6:42 p.m. Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the garage area. The garage appeared to be a loss, and the house sustained some smoke damage.

A fire that destroyed a rural Watkins home Jan. 23 was likely caused by the electrical system, State Fire Marshal Casey Stotts said last week.

Stotts said the fire appeared to have started in the basement of the two-story farmhouse, 34289 CSAH 2, Watkins.