Firefighters from six communities in northwest Iowa tackled a large structural fire overnight in Hawarden. The fire broke out about 10:30 P.M. and fire crews battled the blaze for more than five and a half hours.
Hawarden Fire Chief Jon Strong said the 90-foot by 250-foot building had multiple uses. “A farmers elevator used half of it for storage and the other half was used by a welding company, and they basically just used it for storage. There were vehicles, loaders, all kinds of vehicles inside that burned up and it was a total loss on everything.”
He doesn’t know the damage estimate, but says it will be in the several thousands of dollars. Strong isn’t certain of the origin of the fire but says the state fire marshal is scheduled to arrive on Thursday to investigate.
There were no injuries. Fire departments that responded included: Hawarden, Akron, Ireton, Sioux Center, Alcester, South Dakota and Hudson, South Dakota.
By Dennis Morrice, KLEM, LeMars