Hartley, Iowa — The occupants of a house near Hartley are without a home to live in after a fire on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
According to Hartley Fire Chief Brad Meendering, after being dispatched at about 5:00 p.m. to a house and garage fire at 3137 Tanager Avenue, a location about three miles west and a little over half a mile north of Hartley, the Hartley Fire Department arrived to find smoke coming from the eaves.
The fire chief stated that they extinguished the blaze using exterior hoses and then conducted an overhaul, which involved removing insulation. According to Meendering, there were no injuries.
The fire department was assisted by the Primghar and Sanborn fire departments.
He says the cause of the fire appeared to be sparks from a tractor.
Chief Meendering reports that there was major damage, the house is not inhabitable, and the occupants are living with family for now.
He says the firefighters who responded were on the scene for about four hours.
But, during their response to this fire call, they were called to a second fire five miles south and four east, near the intersection of 370th Street and Yew Avenue. That fire call was some CRP ground that was burning, and ended up burning a county bridge near there, rendering it unusable.
Meendering says a burning fenceline left unattended gets the blame for the fire. He says some of the Hartley and Sanborn firefighters left the house and garage fire and joined firefighters from Everly to put out the CRP ground and bridge.
He tells us since the bridge is unusable at this time, 370th Street between Wilson and Yew avenues is closed to through traffic.
