Memorial Unveiled in Thomson Township 100 Years After 1918 Fire

The monument remembers the people buried in St. Matthew's Lutheran Cemetery whose grave markers were burned

THOMSON TOWNSHIP, Minn. – A hundred years ago Friday, several fires burned through Minnesota, killing more than 400 people.

People are remembering the disaster at several events across the Northland.

Eleven people died in Thomson Township near Esko during the 1918 fire.

The fire tore through homes, farms, forests, and a cemetery there.

A brand new monument was dedicated in St. Matther’s Lutheran Cemetery.

A hundred years ago, the fire burned wooden grave markers of those buried there between 1902 and 1918.

The memorial is to pay tribute to those people who remain buried under the unmarked ground.

“We don’t know who they are, they’re unknown people, but we know they’re here so we thought it was very important to recognize that,” said lifelong Thomson Township resident Donald William Pykkonen who helped bring the monument there.

The fire burned through a hundred fifty thousand acres, an area about twice the size of Carlton County.

No known survivors are still living, but locals believe it’s important to keep the memory of the fire alive forever.

“I think in a hundred years, somebody will come here and see this beautiful, black monument and maybe their curiosity will be peaked and they’ll do some research and find out the real story of what happened here,” said Phil Johnson, co-author of the book “Thomson Township’s Night of Terror.”

There have been discussions to build a monument for more than ten years.

People in attendance were happy to finally see one on the fire’s one hundredth anniversary.