UPDATE: New Rock Valley Assisted Living Center Destroyed In Fire

UPDATE: Rock Valley, Iowa — A fire has destroyed what was to be a $6.5 million assisted living facility in Rock Valley. It was set to open later this month.

We talked with Todd Van Tol, who is the president of the board of investors of the RiverView Ridge Senior Living Center. He tells us about the board.


He says the general contractor for the project is Doug Carlson Construction of St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Van Tol says it was to have about 40 rooms, with around 55 occupants. He says they had hoped to open in a couple of weeks, but no one was living there yet.

According to Van Tol, the facility was to include a bistro for casual dining, a dining room, two private dining areas, activity areas, a chapel, physical therapy and fitness centers, and conference rooms. It was also to include indoor garages and storage units.


Van Tol tells us they have talked to their insurance company, and it is their belief that the facility is fully insured. Investigators are trying to find the cause of the blaze.

He says they’d like to rebuild.


According to Van Tol, they’re glad it wasn’t worse, and they’re very grateful to those who responded.


Fire crews from four area departments were called to the scene at the corner of Riverview Drive and Westview Drive in southwest Rock Valley in the 6 a.m. hour on Tuesday. Firefighters from Rock Valley, Hull, Sioux Center, and Orange City battled the blaze. Firefighters from Hawarden and Ireton were called to assist at about 11:30 on Tuesday morning, after the blaze was basically contained.

Van Tol says the fire affected about three-quarters of the building. Ironically, the fire suppression system was set to be hooked up this week.

He says that some people had already sold their homes, in preparation to move into the facility. In fact, one person had put a few belongings in a garage, and they were affected by the fire.

Rock Valley Police Chief Monte Warburton says the operators were preparing to show it off.


The Rock Valley Police Chief says the building was burning pretty good when he arrived on the scene.


He says firefighters were on the scene for more than four and a half hours.

Background video provided by KTIV-TV

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Original story, posted Tuesday, July 2nd, at 7:56 a.m.:
Rock Valley, Iowa — A new apartment complex in Rock Valley is on fire at this hour. Several Sioux County fire departments are on-scene. An eyewitness reports that it is a new structure, with no one living in it yet. The witness says it was “burning pretty good,” and reported that “there is quite an odor.”

It is unknown when or how the fire started at this time, but the fire departments were paged about 6:10 this morning.

Photo provided by an onlooker

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