Mike Kehren, Goodhue's fire chief and member of the Lions and Goodhue School Board, was killed early Monday when he fell off the tow bar between two hay wagons and was run over, according to Mike Lodermeier, a former fire chief and a member of the department.
"The whole town is in shock," said Dick Banidt, a fire captain and lifelong friend of Kehren, 58. The flag outside the fire hall was at lowered to half staff before sunrise on Monday. By 10 a.m., a large banner was hung outside reading "RIP Chief Kehren," he said.
The accident happened early Monday in Wanamingo, Lodermeier said. A group of Kehren's friends get together every year around the Fourth of July to go to a fireman's dance in Wanamingo. This year, they used a tractor to pull two connected hay wagons to travel to the dance. The Goodhue County Sheriff's Office said the accident was reported at 1:49 a.m. at the intersection of Fifth Street and Nelson Drive. The driver, Christopher Kalaas, 45, of rural Zumbrota stopped there to drop off some people.
"He turned southbound onto Nelson Drive and was passing Sandy Court when several wagon passengers started yelling at him to stop," the sheriff's office said. "Kehren had gotten onto the tow bar between the two hay wagons and fell, striking his head on the pavement and then was run over by the second wagon.