Northwest Iowa — Two area fire departments responded to two separate calls in which damage was limited.
The Sioux Center Fire Department was called to 2690 360th Street for a controlled burn that went out of control on Friday, about 2:15 p.m. That’s three miles north and four west of Sioux Center or a mile west of Carmel. Sioux Center Fire Chief David Van Holland says it started as a log pile fire, which got out of control and started burning a small shed. He tells us there was minimal damage to the shed. He says they put it out and were headed back to the station within 15 to 20 minutes.
The Hartley Fire Department was called to 3283 Yew Avenue on Thursday for a report of a structure fire at about 1:45 p.m. That’s three and a half miles east and nearly a mile south of Hartley. Fire Chief Brad Meendering says the fire was caused by a burn pile fire that went out of control. He says not much of value burned during the fire, as most of it was “junk” according to Meendering. He says the most dangerous thing was the fire was near two propane tanks, but he says they vented. He tells us that means they are not in danger of explosion. Meendering says no one was around the place, so firefighters were not able to get any answers from the occupants of the property. He says they put out the fire and were there for about an hour.
