Sheldon, Iowa — A working smoke alarm alerted a Sheldon resident to a fire in their mobile home Tuesday afternoon, allowing the resident time to escape the blaze.
According to Assistant Fire Chief Brad Hindt, the department was paged shortly after 3:00 Tuesday afternoon to a house fire at 520 North 5th Avenue in Sheldon. When firefighters arrived, they saw smoke coming from the front eves and rear of the mobile home. Firefighters met the resident in the front yard, who told them everyone was out, then dashed back into the smoke-filled home to get a pet. Hindt says firefighters had to pull the resident out of the house.
Fire crews made entry into the home to attack the fire, which was in the northwest bedroom, during which they located and rescued the family cat. Hindt says the blaze was contained to the mobile home’s bedroom, but says there was severe smoke damage to the rest of the home. He says firefighters removed the bedroom’s contents to extinguish hot spots. Hindt says the mobile home will most likely be a total loss, with a significant loss of the resident’s belongings, as well.
Hindt says the potential cause of the blaze was an electrical extension cord.
The Sheldon Fire Company’s 19 responding firefighters were assisted by the Sanborn Fire Department, Sheldon Police Department, Sheldon Community Ambulance Team, Sheldon EMA and MidAmerican Energy.
Hindt reminds people that smoke alarms do save lives and urges you to check your home’s smoke alarms and make sure they’re in working order. He also reminds people that once you’ve left your burning home you should never return to try and rescue your pet.
