Rock Rapids, Iowa — A shed was destroyed and a house damaged in a fire in Rock Rapids in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Rock Rapids Fire Chief Ed Reck reports the Rock Rapids Fire Department was called about 4:05 a.m. to a house fire at the home of Margaret Schubert at 411 South Boone Street in Rock Rapids. He says when they got there they found a utility shed next to the house fully engulfed in flames. According to Reck the fire reached the soffit of the house and then got into an attic storage area.
He says they had to cut some holes in the roof to vent the fire before fighting it further.
Reck says Schubert had some house guests so there were three or four people in the home. But they all got out safely. There were also no injuries to pets, he says.
He says the official cause is still under investigation but he suspects it may have been ashes from a fire pit.
He says there was considerable damage to the attic, and he would place the damage amount in the $20,000-25,000 range.
The chief says they probably only used about 200 gallons of water to fight the fire.
The Lyon County Ambulance crew provided assistance at the scene, and firefighters were there until about 5:30 a.m.
Reck also said he wanted to send out a thank you to the firefighters’ wives for having breakfast hot and waiting for them when they returned from the fire call.
