Maurice, Iowa — Maurice firefighters and those at a hog confinement turned out pretty lucky on Tuesday, April 14, 2020.
According to Maurice Fire Chief Jeff Vander Weide, about 2:30 p.m., the Maurice Fire Department was called to the report of an explosion and fire at 4849 Harrison Avenue, a mile east and a mile and a half south of Maurice.
The chief says the source of ignition is not known, but somehow there was an explosion of the pit gas in the confinement building.
Vander Weide says no injuries were reported, and there were no animals in the building at the time of the explosion. He says when they got there, the only things that were burning were some curtains. He says they did get out their thermal imaging camera and made sure that there was no hidden fire before packing up to go back to the station.
The fire department was assisted by the Orange City Fire Department, but Vander Weide says they didn’t end up needing them.
Chief Vander Weide reports that there was minimal damage.
He says the firefighters who responded were on the scene for only a few minutes.
