Rock Valley, Iowa — A six-month-old machine shed was damaged in a fire on Thursday, January 8, 2015 near Rock Valley, but although there was lots of farm equipment in the building, none of it was damaged.
According to Rock Valley Fire Chief John Wallenburg, about 7:25 PM, the Rock Valley Fire Department was called to the report of machine shed fire at the home of Les Van Grootheest at 2756 330th Street, two miles south and two and a half east of Rock Valley.
The chief says that when the fire trucks arrived, fire fighters saw smoke coming from the large machine shed. He said that near the walkthrough door, the exterior tin of the building was glowing red. He says they tore off the interior tin and spray foam insulation to get to the hot spot, which turned out to be electrical wiring arcing. He says they made sure the power was off, and didn’t even have to use any water. The chief says Van Grootheest knew there was something wrong when he tried to switch on the lights and they wouldn’t stay on, and he smelled smoke.
Wallenburg reports that there were no injuries to people, pets, or livestock.
He says he called for water from the Hull and Sioux Center Fire Departments, but as it turned out, they didn’t need it.
He says the cause of the fire was electrical in nature.
Chief Wallenburg reports that there was not substantial damage. He says it will take some re-wiring and they’ll have to fix the wall and insulation.
He says crews were on scene two hours.
Wallenburg says it could have been much worse if they had needed to use water, as it was very cold. He says the new shed was also full of equipment, the worth of which he estimated at over a million dollars.
