Le Mars, Iowa — Four Sioux County fire departments and two from Plymouth County battled a house fire on Sunday afternoon, April 23rd.
The fire was at 23804 Plymouth County Road C16, about eight miles south and two miles west of Ireton. The Ireton Fire Department was paged first, about 5:45 p.m. and arrived on scene first, but Ireton Fire Chief Richard Steckelberg reports that it was actually in the Le Mars Fire Department district.
Le Mars Fire Chief Dave Schipper says the Le Mars Fire Department saw heavy fire on the south side of the two-story home, with fire through the roof of a one-story addition as they approached the scene.
Schipper says no injuries were reported. He says the man was able to escape the home and his wife had been outside mowing the lawn. He says they tried to extinguish the fire but were unsuccessful, so they called 911.
The fire department was assisted by the Ireton, Hawarden, Maurice, Sioux Center, and Akron Fire Departments. He says about 40 firefighters responded.
Schipper says initially they were concerned about a house across the road, but no other buildings were burned as a result of the fire.
He says the cause of the fire appeared to be embers from a burning pile that flew with the wind toward the house and into some straw bales that had been placed around the house for insulation.
Chief Schipper says the house was totaled and estimates that there was $250,000 damage to the house and its contents.
The couple that had been living in the home were assisted by the American Red Cross with some food and clothing vouchers. Schipper says, fortunately, the couple does have a place to stay in Le Mars, and there will be some salvageable items.
He says they used 15,000-20,000 gallons of water to fight the fire, and crews were on scene a little over three hours. He says they have been doing spot checks to make sure the fire is out, and on one of their checks at 7 a.m. Monday morning they did put out a little fire.
The chief says the 30-35 mile per hour winds and the remote location of the home made the fire more difficult to fight.
