Five Star Towing LLC

05/10/2026

Took a little time to do some late night fishing during the opener. Caught the biggest fish of my life and so many fish the semi trailer dang near tipped over.

04/24/2026

Welcome home Captain Willibald Bianchi.
Thank you for your service!

04/09/2026

Our heavy wreckers can’t always get where a recovery is needed. Our winch box paired with a small 100hp MFWD John Deere tractor is always hooked up and ready to go!

03/17/2026

Sirens. Sirens. The only sound that’s more terrifying than trucks, winch lines, and metal making noises it shouldn’t be while pulling out a stubborn semi on an accident scene.

Typically as a man who runs heavy wrecker for a living, the sound of sirens on a scene means ‘look and pick which direction to run’. Every operator knows exactly what I’m talking about. The vehicle that somehow didn’t see the fire trucks, the law enforcement flashing lights, and miraculously missed our wreckers that are lit up like a Christmas tree. A vehicle is coming. Too fast, too close, and probably out of control. The general public has no idea how many close calls we have every day on the job. Add snow, ice, and zero visibility, and that multiples quickly.

Today however, I need to thank Deputy Jensen with the McLeod County Sheriff’s office. We were on the narrow two lane part of US212, working with live traffic in both directions, pulling out a semi in snow so deep you couldn’t see the wheels. And then we heard sirens. Very loud sirens. As I turn my head, my heart sank. My body prepared to jump, it just didn’t know which direction. However, I didn’t need to jump or run. The sirens were pulling over a vehicle, not warning me. They were ticketed for speeding through an accident scene. In almost 10 years of providing heavy recovery services for several law enforcement entities, there’s been MANY sirens and close calls, but never has there been a ticket written.

This happened two more times! Two more times my heart sank and panic set in. Two more tickets written instead of me running through knee high snow.

We don’t always have the privilege of having law enforcement on scene to watch over us. Probably about 50% of the time or less do we have law enforcement on scene. I do however, hope to have the privilege of working a scene with McLeod County Deputy Jensen again! Thank you! (Your siren will still scare me.)

Eric Platz
Five Star Towing LLC
Lafayette MN

03/16/2026

MNDOT has closed many roads in southern MN including State Highway 15. Yes we are available 24/7 for EMERGENCY towing. Your KIA Sorento in the ditch is not an emergency, you shouldn’t be out tonight. There has been plenty of warnings. Tonight our trucks will only be dispatched in the dark for Law Enforcement calls, unless you want to pay a higher price than normal.

03/15/2026

12/22/2025

Glare ice on every road in our area. Our priority this morning is pulling MNDOT plow trucks out of the ditch and other emergency vehicles such as ambulances/squad cars. MN15 is littered with semis in the ditch. Expect a long commute this morning. Even after the salt trucks do their job traffic will be slow as the roads will be partially blocked for recovery work.

12/19/2025