History Mystery: He was on the scene of big fire

Kermit Nielsen of Cloquet had some interesting recollections spurred by the Dec. 16 History Mystery item about a pulpwood fire at Northwest Paper in April of 1963. News reports at the time said a lightning strike may have been the genesis of the fire, though there was no definitive cause of the fire that ate up at least 11,000 cords of wood. The loss was recorded as $250,000, or $2.4 million in today's dollars.

Kermit said the lightning explanation may have been a ruse to recoup losses through insurance. There is no proof of Kermit's theory that workers taking a break on one of the massive woo...