Rock Valley, Iowa – Some equipment and a cold storage room were damaged in a fire on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 in Rock Valley.
According to Rock Valley Fire Assistant Chief Heath Wallenburg, just after midnight, the Rock Valley Fire Department was called to the report of a structure fire at Prairie Land Ag Supply at 198 Westview Drive, a mile west and a little south of the Highway 18 and Main Street intersection.
The fire was called in by a passerby who thought they saw flames through the roof. Acting on this information, Wallenburg asked for the Hull Fire Department to come to the call as well. However, when they got there they found the flames were not through the roof.
The assistant chief says the fire department did see flames visible through a window as they approached the scene.
He says the cause of the fire appeared to be a malfunction in an electric ceramic tube heating unit. He says the ceramic tube broke and hot pieces of tube fell on a pallet with cardboard and rubber hose on it, and that was pretty much the extent of the fire.
Wallenburg reports that there was moderate damage. He says it was contained to a six by six foot area under the heater, but there was also some smoke damage and the damage to the heating unit. He says there was no structural damage to the building.
No injuries were reported.
He says they used about 500 gallons of water to fight the fire in addition to some water from a hydrant.
Wallenburg says although the fire was out within five minutes, crews were on scene for two hours doing overhaul and cleanup.
