Oskaloosa Business Destroyed By Fire
The call for help went out just after 11am on Sunday. When it was over, nine departments had helped to battle the blaze.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – It was a fire of massive scale, and Oskaloosa Fire Department reached out to area fire departments early to help battle the Sunday blaze.
The call to the Oskaloosa Fire Department went out at 11:04 am, and firefighters were able to see the smoke from almost the moment they left the station.
They were responding to International Ingredient Corporation located at 2389 Highway 23 in Oskaloosa.
Oskaloosa Fire Chief Mark Neff said that when crews arrived on the scene, the fire had already self-ventilated through the south end of the warehouse that runs near Highway 23. “It was going really good when we got here.”
An “all in” page went out to every Oskaloosa firefighter to respond to the station and gear up, and mutual aid was then asked of New Sharon and Cedar Township fire departments.
Shortly after those initial requests, another was made of Pella for their aerial apparatus and Eddyville Fire Department. “A little bit after that, we requested Sigourney and Hedrick to come up,” said Neff.
“The biggest things has been the wind-driven and the temperatures,” said Neff.
Fatigue started to set in on firefighters after hours of fighting the blaze which was nearly the size of a city block. The facility was comprised of three large buildings in a “C” pattern.
Firefighters were concerned that fire was spreading to the mill portion of the facility.
Firefighters were welcomed into a nearby business, where they were greeted with hot food and drinks provided by area businesses.
The other concern was ice, and the damage it could cause to pumps if the water didn’t flow at a constant rate. That concern was one reason they requested the aerial apparatus from Ottumwa fire. Moving Pella’s aerial could have lead to some freezing, which would have caused delays in fighting the fire.
Logistically, having that many departments over such a vast area made incident command vitally important, something some area responders practice on a regular basis.
Neff said it was too early to determine a cause for the fire.
In all, nine departments battled the blaze. Oskaloosa, New Sharon, Cedar Township, Pella, Eddyville, Sigourney, What Cheer, Hedrick, and Ottumwa.
They were assisted by the Oskaloosa Police Department, Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office, Mahaska County Emergency Management, Mahaska County CERT, Iowa DOT, Mahaska Health Partnership Emergency Services, and the Mahaska County 911 Center.
According to International Ingredient Corporation, they provide animal feed for everything from bees to horses, swine to cattle and companion animals.
