Sibley, Iowa — An outbuilding and its contents were heavily damaged in a fire on Wednesday, December 9, 2015 near Sibley.
According to Sibley Fire Chief Ken Huls, about 2:20 PM, the Sibley Fire Department was called to the report of a structure fire at 5238 190th Street, which is about a mile and a half south of Sibley and a little east of Highway 60. Huls says the place is owned by Phil Timmers. A passerby called in the blaze.
The chief says the fire department saw half of the building engulfed in flame as they approached the scene. He says they used water to fight the fire. He says the fire got into walls, and was difficult to get at due to the construction of the building.
Huls reports that there were no injuries to people, pets, or livestock.
He says that the building was being used for a seamless gutter business, and although they were able to save the shop part of the building and some tools, many of the supplies for the business, including gutters and downspouts were destroyed.
The fire department was assisted by the Ashton Fire Department. They provided five or six firefighters and a tanker says Huls. He thanked them for their help.
He says the cause of the fire appeared to be a space heater near some papers.
Chief Huls reports that there was $35,000 worth of damage to the building, with an estimated $10,000 in damage to the contents.
He says they used about 6000 gallons of water to fight the fire, and although crews had the fire under control within an hour, they were on scene for about three and a half hours altogether.
Huls says, however, that firefighters were called back to the scene on Thursday morning due to high winds that had blown embers into flame again. Again another passerby called in the blaze. Firefighters were there for another hour on Thursday morning.
