Firefighters Battle Morning Fire

Oskaloosa Fire Captain Dave Christenson prepares to attack flames leaping from a second story window.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Oskaloosa Fire Department spent most of Tuesday morning battling a stubborn fire at 809 North C.

Firefighters took the call at 8:15 Tuesday morning.

The initial crew on the scene encountered heavy smoke eminating from the second story of the home. No flames were visible at that time.

Firefighters entered the residence to search for anyone who may be in the home, while the remaining firefighters were paged in.

Ten Oskaloosa firefighters were on the scene and were assisted by New Sharon Fire as well as Cedar Township Fire.

“We had a real difficult time with it,” said Oskaloosa Fire Chief Mark Neff. There were many obstacles for the firefighters to overcome inside the home and it made getting around inside the house difficult.

Firefighters not only battled the heat of the flames, but also the first warm day of the year where they were fully outfitted in all their turnout gear. “It was pretty trying on the guys,” said Neff. “They did a really good job.”

As of 10:30 am, no cause of the fire was available. Chief Neff said that the owner of the home had left for work around 7 am, and he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary at that time. Somewhere between 7 and 8:15 this thing got out of hand.

According to Neff, the home was built in 1910 and is a total loss.

According to the Mahaska County Assessors website, the home is owned by James Norris.