Orange City, Iowa — A garage and its contents were destroyed in a fire on Saturday, December 7, 2019, near Orange City.
According to Orange City Fire Chief Denny Vander Wel, about 6:30 p.m., the Orange City Fire Department was called to the report of a garage fire at 4569 Ironwood Avenue, about a half-mile south of Highway 10 on the west side of Orange City.
The chief says the fire department saw the garage fully involved in flame as they approached the scene. He says they used water to fight the fire.
Vander Wel says no injuries were reported.
The fire department was assisted by the Alton Fire Department.
He says the cause of the fire is not known for sure but it was believed that it might be related to space heaters in the building.
Chief Vander Wel reports that the detached garage and a car sitting out front were both totaled in the blaze, along with a moped, some tools, and shop equipment stored in the garage. He estimates the damage at possibly $75,000.
He says the 19 firefighters who responded were on the scene for about two and a half hours.
According to Vander Wel, it was good that the winds were from the direction that they were, otherwise the house could have been in jeopardy too.
He tells us Orange City firefighters were also called to Civco Medical Instruments on Monday for a burning smell. He says a new air handling unit on the roof had malfunctioned, causing the odor. He says they took the unit apart to see what could be causing the issue, and advised the owners that they would need to call their contractor to see what could be done.
