Maurice, Iowa — A garage and its contents were destroyed in a fire on Tuesday, October 6, 2020, in Maurice.
According to Maurice Fire Chief Jeff Vander Weide, about 4:10 p.m., the Maurice Fire Department was called to the report of a garage on fire near Second Street and Oak Avenue in Maurice.
The chief says the fire department saw lots of smoke as they approached the scene. He says they tried to make entry via the walk-in door, but couldn’t get at the fire from there, so they had to go through the overhead doors.
Vander Weide says no injuries were reported, and that the fire department was assisted by the Sioux Center Fire Department.
He says he had earlier stopped to tell the residents that there was a burning ban when he saw their burning pile. He says the burning pile is thought to be the cause of the fire.
Chief Vander Weide reports that the building and its contents are a total loss. Fortunately, he says there were no vehicles in the garage, but there were lots of items.
He says the firefighters who responded were on the scene for an hour and a half.
Then on Wednesday, the Maurice firefighters were called out again, this time to a baler fire. Vander Weide says the operator was baling cornstalks and something must have gotten hot and started the bale on fire. No injuries were reported, but Vander Weide tells us that the baler was a total loss.
According to Vander Weide, he’d like to remind folks that Sioux County is under a burning ban. He says with the dryness out there, it doesn’t take much for a fire to become a large problem very quickly.
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