Officials in Dickinson County have requested and received permission from the governor to have the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers make a cut in a county road that will help prevent flood damage at Spirit Lake. County spokesman Lonnie Saunders says they hope the cut in what’s called the Lower Gar Road will help them handle the water from snow melt and run off.

He says it is only a temporary measure that’s intended to alleviate the back pressure that’s built on the chain of lakes. The Corps would make the cut and the county would have to make the repair at a cost of 15 to $20,000. Saunders says it’s not a huge cost, but a significant cost, and one the county is willing to incur. He says the move could help prevent the type of flooding seen in 2003.

National Weather Service hydrologist, Mike Gillespie says the water level downstream is just below the seven foot flood level right now.

He says some lowlands along the Milford Creek would start flooding at the seven-and-a-half foot level and as it gets to eight feet there would be more significant flooding. Gillespie says at 10 feet there would be more flooding on the Lower Gar outlet.

The governor approved an emergency disaster declaration for the county to allow for the cut in the road. The governor’s office says the 1993 flooding caused $39-million in damage to homes, businesses and public utilities. The governor’s office says during 1993 similar action was taken to relieve pressure in the lake. However, in 1993, the request came too late to save homes from flood waters.

By Mark Bruggom, KICD, Spencer

Cedar Rapids firefighters are hoping new pet oxygen masks will save the lives of both pets and people. The masks were donated Tuesday by the Cedar Rapids Invisible Fence company.

Fire Department spokesman Greg Buelow says firefighters have had to use equipment made for humans to revive pets caught in a fire — but these masks are specially designed for animals.

He says the mask goes over the snout, or mouth and nose of a dog, and there are different masks for cats and for smaller dogs, which will improve the delivery of oxygen to the animals. Buelow says the masks can help save pets, but he says they also hope it keeps people from taking chances.

Buelow say the number one reason people go back into a burning house is to get a pet that’s still inside. He says they want to let pet owners know firefighters will do their best to rescue the animal, and have a chance to revive them with this equipment. Buelow says fire safety courses in the schools show the need to reinforce the importance of getting out of burning home, even if a pet is inside.

He says they ask elementary kids if they would go back inside a burning home to get their homework, and they scream “no.” He says they also say no when asked if they would go back in for a $100 bill. But Buelow says when they ask kids if they would go back in a burning home to get a pet dog or cat, they don’t respond. “It kind of gets to you, and it’s scary, because you know how much that pet must mean to them, and they don’t immediately blurt out ‘no’, they wouldn’t immediately go back in,” Buelow says.

Buelow says there many examples of adults risking their own lives to save pets. Buelow says a woman suffered first and second degree burns about a year and a half ago when she went back into a burning house to get her cat. The cat turned out to be already out and hiding under a neighbor’s deck. He says these new masks will hopefully let kids and adults know they can get out of their homes and there’s a chance firefighters can save pets who were left behind.

Buelow says there’s one estimate that some 540,000 pets die each year in fires nationwide. Beulow says as spokesperson for the fire department he knows of 20 to 30 animals who died in fires last year in Cedar Rapids, as most American households have pets and many have multiple pets. Trent Donels, owner of Invisible Fence of Cedar Rapids, presented the devices to the fire department and they will now be available on all trucks responding to fires.

The photo above is courtesy of the CR. Fire Department,  it shows EMS Chief Curtis Hopper and firefighter Sean Beard demonstrating a pet oxygen mask on a Golden Retriever.

Four teenage girls on their way to Tri-Center High School in Neola were involved in a fatal crash this morning. The Iowa State Patrol says one of the teens was killed and three others injured when the car they were in crashed just north of Interstate 80 in Harrison County.

The accident happened around 8 a.m. on Highway 191. Authorities say a car driven by 15-year old Samantha Lynn Reid of Honey Creek was headed south on the highway when it left the road, entered a ditch and flipped over. All of the occupants were ejected.

Fourteen-year-old old Katie L. Dyer of Honey Creek died in the accident. Reid and two other passengers, 16-year old Cari L. Wilson and Chelsea Jean Birtwell, both of Persia, were injured.

All four were taken to hospitals in Omaha where Dyer was pronounced dead and Chelsea Birtwell was listed in critical condition. Two of the girls were wearing their seatbelts, including Dyer. The other two were not. The accident remains under investigation.

By Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic

A woman has died in a moble home fire in Ankeny. A spokesperson for the city says firefighters were called out at 4:13 this morning.  She says the elderly woman lived alone, and was discovered in the mobile home.  The  victim’s name is not being released pending notification of her family.

State and local investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire.

Clean up operations are underway for a large fuel spill in northern Iowa’s Dickinson County. Ken Hessenius, supervisor of the D.N.R.’s Spencer field, says the spill happened around 10 o’clock last night. He says a valve apparently ruptured at the Magellan Pipeline terminal two miles south of Milford and diesel fuel spilled, with initial estimates are that 5,000 gallons of fuel spilled.

Hessenius says some of the fuel did get into a tributary the feeds into the Little Sioux River. Hessenius some of the fuel was contained on the site in a small runoff pond, some ran off into the snow, while some got into the tributary and come containment booms were set up on the tributary.

Hessenius says the winter conditions have made recovering the fuel from the tributary and Little Sioux tough, but he says the heavy runoff has also helped prevent environmental problems. He says there’s a lot of water flow, so the fuel is dispersed. Hessenius says the fuel is lighter than water, so it gets spread out quite a bit and that helps prevent problems.

He says they have not seen any dead fish in the are thus far. Hessenius says they will investigate as they do in any spill and see if any action is warranted against the company.

Fort Dodge residents who live along the Des Moines River had to seek shelter over the weekend as the waterway left its banks. Meteorologist Miles Schumacher, with the National Weather Service, says streets along the river were underwater and many basements were flooded.

Schumacher says there was a lot of ice jam activity that even toppled trees and left big chunks of ice on the streets, but he says conditions are now improving. While there may be some showers this week, he says the flooding should ease.

“We don’t have any real significant rain, at least for the next several days,” Schumacher says, “so some of this water will have a chance to run off and that should help us out quite a bit.” In Des Moines, some city buildings that are considered at-risk for flooding are already sandbagged and the city has put big pumps in some neighborhoods to pump out the water. Winter’s almost over as Spring arrives on Saturday.

By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City

A building that collapsed in Corning about six weeks ago due to heavy snow build-up collapsed even further on Sunday night. Corning Fire Chief Donnie Willett says the incident occurred at a car dealership, Miller Chevrolet. Chief Willett says a section on the east end of the building caved in and he says crews haven’t been able to get inside the structure to assess the damage.

He says the owner is in Florida on vacation and had been using the building as storage. Willett says the building was still full of cars and other inventory. No injuries were reported. The building’s roof was heavily laden with anywhere from two-to-three feet of snow when the original collapse occurred.

By Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic

Smoke detector

Iowans are being encouraged to change the batteries in their smoke detectors this weekend as they set their clocks forward one hour for Day Light Savings Time.

State Fire Marshal Ray Reynolds says there were 43 fire fatalities in Iowa last year and many of those lives may’ve been saved by a working smoke detector.

Reynolds says around half of fires involved a home of building that either didn’t have a smoke detector or the device failed to work because it had a dead battery or no battery at all.

 So far this year, seven Iowans have died in fires and five of those deaths occurred in a home without a working smoke detector. The early warning a smoke alarm provides could mean the difference between life and death. Reynolds says many people believe if there is a fire in their home, they’ll have several minutes to gather their valuables.

“Nothing could be farther from the truth,” Reynolds said. “In fact, in most fires you really have less than a minute or two minutes to get out of your house to stay alive.” Reynolds just recently took over as State Fire Marshal. Former Marshal Jim Kenkel retired. Reynolds says he plans to work closely with local fire departments on fire prevention efforts. He’s applauding one program in eastern Iowa.

“The fire department in Clinton is doing a partnership with their school district to replace or install smoke detectors in all the children’s homes in the school district. Those kind of fire prevention efforts go a long way,” Reynolds said.

Cedar Rapids city leaders say they’ll request Congress fully-fund permanent flood protection regardless of whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recommends it. Initial results show the Corps will not back the city’s preferred flood protection plan, which is a series of walls and levees to protect against the level of the historic June 2008 flood. Ron Fournier  is a spokesman for the Corps’ Rock Island district.

“We have not fully developed all the alternatives or the economics of those alternatives,” Fournier says. “We hope to have those available late June or early July when we will have a public meeting here in the city to discuss those findings.” Congress can approve building flood protection without the Corps’ recommendation. Cedar Rapids City Manager Jim Prosser says the community will ask for complete funding regardless of the study’s outcome.

Prosser says, “It might be that the Corps’ project would just provide approval or support for a portion but it is our intention to seek funding for the full plan.” The Corps is completing its study in a shorter timeframe than usual because Congress might consider special legislation to fund flood protection projects throughout the country this year.

An accident just north of Davenport last night claimed two lives. The Iowa State Patrol says it happened about midnight Thursday on westbound Interstate 80 at mile marker 303 near LeClaire.

A man and woman were walking away from their vehicle, which was stuck in the median. They were struck and killed by a car driven by 55-year-old Tong Le of Davenport. He wasn’t hurt. The victims’ names have not been released pending notification of relatives. The accident remains under investigation.

By Phil Roberts, Davenport