Sibley, Iowa — A house is uninhabitable after a fire on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, in Sibley, and once again, a charging battery gets the blame.
According to Sibley Fire Chief Ken Huls, at about 8:30 p.m., the Sibley Fire Department was called to the report of a house on fire at 509 4th Street in Sibley. He says they entered and found most of the southern part of the house on fire. He says the occupant had heard a popping sound and came upstairs to see heavy black smoke and flames. He escaped and ran to a neighbor’s house to call 911.
When they got there, the chief says the fire department saw heavy smoke and flames from a window. He says they knocked the fire down pretty quickly, but the overhaul is what took the most time. He says the fire and damage extended to the attic, where it was difficult to get to. A neighboring house at 513 4th Street also sustained smoke damage as a result of the fire.
Huls says no injuries were reported.
The fire department was assisted by the Little Rock Fire Department, Osceola County Ambulance, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, and Osceola County Emergency Management, who assisted the victim in contacting the Red Cross, as most everything he owned was lost in the fire. They helped him find a place to stay.
Huls says the cause of the fire appeared to be a charging lithium-ion battery on a laptop.
Chief Huls reports that the damage to the home was severe and was estimated at $250,000.
He says the firefighters who responded were on the scene for about three hours.
Huls has some advice for charging batteries, as he says charging them has been a fairly common cause of house fires in northwest Iowa. First of all, he says you should unplug your devices when they are charged. He says this applies not only to laptops, but basically anything with a rechargeable battery, including (but not limited to) phones, drones, and power tools. The chief suggests that while you can buy an off-brand charger to get you through temporarily, he suggests buying only the name-brand chargers. In other words, Apple phones should have Apple chargers. Samsung phones should have Samsung chargers, DeWalt power tools should only use DeWalt chargers, and so forth, for the most fire safety. He says batteries like this should be charged in an open area on a hard surface, away from combustible materials. And don’t leave them charging unattended. He also says older devices and chargers are more likely to have issues.
The National Fire Protection Association says you should stop using a battery if you notice a change in odor, color, temperature (overheating), shape, or noise — or if you can tell it’s leaking.
KIWA Staff Photo
