Hawarden, Iowa — A Hawarden icon is no more. An early morning fire has destroyed Hawarden’s Central Café.
Fire officials say the call went out shortly before 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning, December 26th. Firefighters from Hawarden, Ireton, Sioux Center, Orange City, Maurice, and Akron, Iowa as well as Hudson, Alcester, and Beresford, South Dakota responded to the scene on Central Avenue in Hawarden. The Sioux Center Fire Department provided an aerial truck to fight the fire from above.
Hawarden Fire Chief, Duane Shiefen says a Hawarden Police officer spotted the fire around 1:50 a.m.
Shiefen isn’t certain as of yet as to what may have started the fire. He says fire officials are still conducting their investigation. Shiefen says nearby structures did receive some smoke damage, but there were no other buildings that had caught on fire. Owner Chad McVay posted on social media that “Our family business is gone. Central Café is a loss.”
Shiefen says firefighters were on the scene of the fire for nine hours. He says he is thankful for the community’s support of providing refreshments and other services while firefighters continued to battle the fire.
Shiefen says Central Catering, a popular catering service for northwest Iowa, and based at Hawarden, is a separate business and is located in a different building and was not affected by the fire that destroyed Central Café.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for owners Jen and Chad McVay, who have owned the café since 2019. The business has been a Hawarden staple since 1976 according to the page.
Final picture courtesy Thad Finzen:
