Orange City, Iowa– A business was damaged due to fire on Thursday, May 17, 2018, in Orange City.
According to Orange City Fire Chief Denny Vander Wel, about 11:25 a.m., the Orange City Fire Department was called to the report of an exhaust fan on fire at “The Warehouse” fitness center at 807 Albany Place Southeast, between Subway and Hardee’s.
The chief says when they got there the fire department saw remnants of a fire that had been fought by the occupants with a chemical fire extinguisher. He says they doused the hot spots with water from the department’s water extinguishers and made sure it was out.
Vander Wel says no injuries were reported.
He says the fire appears to have started due to a short circuit or perhaps someone turned on the fan and the blades were blocked, causing the motor to overheat.
Chief Vander Wel reports that there was damage to the fan and the wall and smoke damage throughout the facility.
He says they had been advised before they left the station that the fire was basically out, so they responded with only one truck and five firefighters, leaving the others on standby at the station. He says those who responded were on the scene for about 45 minutes.
Then overnight in the early hours of Friday, firefighters were called to what turned out to be a false alarm at the Orange City Health System Hospital. Ambulance personnel and Alton Firefighters were also paged. Vander Wel says it was a malfunction in the alarm system.
