Sheldon, Iowa — The residents of a Sheldon home had a rude awakening in the wee hours of Monday morning (November 9,2020).
According to Sheldon Assistant Fire Chief Brad Hindt, the residents of 316 North 5th Avenue was awakened by the home’s smoke detector shortly after 3:00 am and promptly called 911.
When the Sheldon Fire Company arrived on the scene they found that the home’s residents had exited the home. Firefighters encountered some smoke when they entered the residence and discovered that there was a dryer on fire in the home’s bathroom. Hindt says firefighters quickly removed the dryer and extinguished the fire inside, then used a fan to clear the remaining smoke out of the trailer home.
Hindt says the resident told fire officials he had started a load of laundry earlier in the evening and woke up to the sound of the smoke alarm.
Hindt says one of the home’s residents was checked over by the Sheldon Community Ambulance Team.
According to Hindt the fire appears to have been caused by a malfunction in the dryer.
This marks the tenth time Sheldon Firefighters have been called out since the first of November. Hindt says the Sheldon Fire Company is having a record-setting number of incidents this year, having already responded to 149 calls. That compares to just 123 for all of last year and 125 for all of 2018.
