Calumet, Iowa — The O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a fire that destroyed an abandoned farm residence east of Paullina Sunday afternoon.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the house at 4682 Sorrel Avenue was vacant at the time of Sunday’s fire, but had been vandalized over the course of the last couple of years. The fire was reported Sunday at about 2:00 pm. Authorities say several local fire departments were dispatched to the scene but the house was fully engulfed when they arrived. The house is considered a total loss, and authorities tell us the cause of the fire is under investigation.
If you have any information related to this incident you’re asked to contact the O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office. The information could include suspicious people or vehicles you may have seen in or around the property in recent days.
The O’Brien County Crime Dusters program is offering a $400 reward to anyone who provides information on this crime that leads to the arrest and conviction of the offender.
You can provide information by calling the O’Brien County Crime Dusters at 712-957-3415, or you can provide tips by using the O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office website, which can be found by CLICKING HERE.
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~~Original story posted 2:24 pm April 8, 2019~~
Calumet, Iowa — A house on an abandoned farmstead near Calumet was destroyed in a fire on Sunday, April 7, 2019, and firefighters don’t know the cause of the blaze.
According to Calumet Fire Chief Korey Dau, about 2:00 p.m., the Calumet Fire Department was called to the report of a house on fire at 4682 Sorrel Avenue, a mile and a half north and three miles east of Calumet.
The chief says the fire department saw the house mostly engulfed in flame as they approached the scene. Dau says that the farmstead was unoccupied, and they were told that the electricity had been cut off to the place, so that appears to be ruled out as a cause. He says there had been some lightning in the area early on Sunday morning, but the time delay appears to have been too great, as the fire wasn’t reported until about 2:00 p.m. He says the state Fire Marshal’s office was called to investigate the fire.
According to Dau, the Calumet Fire Department was assisted by the Paullina and Primghar Fire Departments.
Chief Dau reports that the house was totaled in the blaze, but they did put it out instead of letting it burn — to try to leave as much of the structure standing as possible for evidence in the search for a cause.
He says about 30 firefighters responded to the call and were on scene for about three hours.
