Monday, Dec. 6: The Vernon County Sheriff’s Office released the following statement on the Trail’s End (Amish Walmart) fire today, citing a wood-stove chimney as the likely cause of the blaze:
“On Dec. 4 at 11:16 a.m., the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call regarding a structure fire at Trail’s End, a business commonly known as the Amish Walmart, located at S302A Little Ridge Road, town of Whitestown. The fire spread rapidly, and all occupants were quickly evacuated from the building. The Ontario Fire Department and Ontario Ambulance were initially paged. Mutual aid was ultimately requested from the La Farge Fire Department, Hillsboro Fire Department, Westby Fire Department, Wilton Fire Department, and Cashton Fire Department. Despite the diligent efforts of the six fire departments and several other members of the community, the store building was a complete loss. No injuries were reported, and there was no damage to any other buildings. The source of the fire appears to have been the chimney of the wood stove. The incident remains under investigation by the Ontario Fire Department and the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office.”
Saturday, Dec. 4: A fire consumed Trail’s End, colloquially known as “the Amish Walmart,” on Saturday on Little Ridge Road in rural Ontario. The blaze started at about 11:15 a.m. Fire departments from Ontario, Wilton, Cashton, Hillsboro, La Farge and Westby responded to the scene, plus a local farm offered the use of its tanker truck. No one was hurt in the fire.
