Rock Valley, Iowa — The Rock Valley Fire Department was called out for a possible house fire on Wednesday, October 16, 2019, near Rock Valley.
According to Rock Valley Fire Chief Brent Eshuis, about 2:50 p.m., the Rock Valley Fire Department was called to the report of a house full of smoke at 2615 310th Street, just southeast of Rock Valley.
The chief says when the fire department arrived, they found that someone had been doing concrete work and was cutting rebar. He says somehow the home’s sill plate — which is the bottom board of treated lumber that rests on the foundation — started to smolder, and that’s what was causing the smoke. He says there were no flames, and tells us they took care of the smoldering wood, opened some windows to ventilate the smoke, and checked for hot spots with a thermal cam to make sure there was no danger.
Eshuis says no injuries were reported.
Chief Eshuis reports that there was minimal damage. He says the 25 firefighters who responded were on the scene for about a half hour.
The Hull Fire Department is always paged too for calls like this in Rock Valley, but Eshuis says he told them they could go home. However, the other day, the Hull department had their own call. It was to Pleasant Acres Care Center in southwest Hull for a strong smell of gas. Hull Fire Chief Greg Van Roekel says someone had left a burner on in the kitchen. He says no evacuation was needed and firefighters were only there for a few minutes.
