Sioux Center, Iowa — The Sioux Center firefighters responded to the call of a fire at Sioux Automation in that town on Friday.
Sioux Center Fire Chief David Van Holland reports that about 4:30 that day, the Sioux Center firefighters were called for the report of a fire in the propane tank area outside of Sioux Automation. Van Holland tells us that the plant has a gas mixing device there that mixes air and propane to help limit the amount of natural gas that they use.
Van Holland says those at the plant tell him they had been having trouble with it on Friday, when it malfunctioned and started on fire.
He says when firefighters got there, they shut down the device and let the rest of the gas burn off by itself.
He says it’s not known exactly why the gas mixing device malfunctioned, but after the fire, he estimates it’s a total loss.
Other area fire departments were put on standby when the page went out for a fire near propane tanks, but Van Holland says when he arrived on-scene and knew what they were dealing with, he told dispatch that the other departments would not be needed. He says Sioux Center firefighters were there for 15 minutes to a half an hour.
