Hartley, Iowa — It could have turned out much differently, when the Hartley Fire Department was called out on Thursday morning, July 11, 2019.
According to Hartley Fire Chief Brad Meendering, about 5:45 a.m., the Hartley Fire Department was called to the report of smoke in an apartment building downtown.
The chief says the fire department saw smoke coming from the second floor of the building, which was across the street from the fire hall. He says they evacuated the residents first, as the hallway was full of smoke. Once that was taken care of, he says they looked for the source of the smoke and eventually found a dryer in the laundry area that was on fire. According to Meendering, they hauled the dryer outside and extinguished it. Then they ventilated the building.
Meendering says no injuries were reported.
Both Sanborn and Sheldon firefighters were initially paged as well since when Hartley firefighters first got there, they didn’t know what they’d find. They had asked the Sheldon aerial truck because the smoke was coming from the second story and it was a downtown building. But when they knew what they were dealing with, Meendering said he radioed dispatch and told them that Sheldon and Sanborn could disregard.
He says the cause of the fire was probably lint buildup or a malfunction in the dryer.
Chief Meendering reports that the dryer was totaled, and there was probably some smoke damage to the building.
He says the 14 firefighters who responded were on the scene for about an hour.
