Sibley, Iowa — The Sibley Fire Department had two back-to-back structure fire calls on Monday, September 16, 2024. One destroyed a barn and a trailer and caused over half a million dollars in damage. The other destroyed an abandoned house.
A hog barn and enclosed trailer were destroyed in the first fire, near Sibley.
According to Sibley Fire Chief Ken Huls, at about 2:30 p.m., the Sibley Fire Department was called to the report of a generator and hog building fire at 5014 110th Street, six miles north and two west of Sibley.
The chief says the fire department saw an enclosed fifth-wheel trailer burned down to the wheels, with the adjacent hog barn on fire as they approached the scene. He says the trailer belonged to a foam insulation business and they were spraying insulation in a new office area of the barn. Workers tell Huls that they had turned on the compressor and then left the area for about ten minutes and when one of them came back, the trailer was on fire and it soon started the building on fire as well. Huls says they also found a propane tank and some 50-gallon drums of insulation chemicals and cooled them down before they could explode.
Huls says no injuries were reported and no livestock was in the building at the time of the fire.
The fire department was assisted by the Little Rock Fire Department.
He says the cause of the fire appeared to be electrical in nature.
Chief Huls reports that the hog barn was worth about $500,000, according to Huls, and he estimates the trailer was worth about $75,000. Both were destroyed in the blaze.
He says the firefighters who responded were on the scene for about three and a half hours.
As they were putting things away and cleaning up at the fire station, another call came in, this time for a house on fire.
According to Chief Huls, at about 6:15 p.m., the Sibley Fire Department was called to the fire at 5165 190th Street, about a mile and a half southwest of Sibley.
The chief says the fire department saw the house fully involved as they approached the scene.
Huls says no injuries were reported.
He says the cause of the fire appeared to be sparks from a burn pile, which got into the grove and burned several trees before starting the house on fire.
Chief Huls reports that the house was destroyed, but nothing of value was burned. He says they protected a garage being used for storage on the place.
He says the firefighters who responded were on the second scene for between 45 minutes and an hour.
