Taintor Man Dies In Tragic House Fire

New Sharon Firefighters attack the house fire that took the life of Emery Black.

Taintor, Iowa – The blast of winter has made its way across Iowa and Mahaska County this past week. With that comes space heaters, wood burners and other potential fire hazards that are helping to heat up the night.

On Thursday evening, November 13th, fire crews were called to the home of Emory Black and Judy Clenin at about 6:50 pm.

Initial reports said the home was fully engulfed, and there were two people trapped inside. As firefighters were racing to the scene, reports came in that one of the two individuals had made their way out of the home and to safety.

New Sharon Fire Chief Steve Gerard said that as they were making their way to the fire, flames from the home could be seen “from a long ways away.”

The flames were so intense, firefighters were unable to approach the home. The call went out immediately over mutual aid for additional help. Chief Gerard said that he was in need of as much water as possible to “keep some walls standing” to aid firefighters later on in the search for Black.

Multiple fire departments responded, including: New Sharon, Oskaloosa, Barnes City, Deep River, Searsboro, Lynnville and Sully.

Also on scene were Mahaska County Emergency Management and Mahaska CERT with assistance from Mahaska County Sheriffs Office and Mahaska Health Partnership Emergency Services.

The Iowa State Fire Marshal’s Office was contacted, and two representatives from the office responded. Black’s body was recovered around 4am.

New Sharon Fire was back on the scene at 10am because the home had rekindled, this time using foam to “seal down and try and penetrate everything.”

As of press time, no cause for the fire has yet been determined.