Oskaloosa Firefighters Quickly Contain House Fire

Oskaloosa Firefighters responded to this fire at 316 8th Ave West shortly after 6:00 pm Thursday night (photo by Joe Milliedge/KIIC)

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Early Thursday evening, Oskaloosa Firefighters were called to 316 8th Ave West at 6:02 pm. 14 firefighters responded to the property owned by Janet Stevens. Three trucks made the trip to the fire scene, but with quick work only one of those trucks needed to be utilized in keeping the flames contained. The Oskaloosa Fire Department arrived on the scene two minutes after the call went out. They returned to the station at 7:13 pm.

Oskaloosa Fire Chief Mark Neff said that the fire started in the rear entry of the home and was electrical in nature. He went on to explain that the fire was contained to the area where the fire started with no other fire damage to the house.

Neff said the fire started on the back porch, and “that old knob and tube wiring had actually caught a birds nest on fire.” The porch had multiple layers of roofs, with a dead space in between. Once the fire spread to that area or “dead space,” it got the house’s asphalt shingles burning.

“We just got a good knock down,” Neff said of his departments response to the fire.

Neff estimates the damage to be approximately $15,000 in structure damage, and an additional $5,000 damage to the contents of the home.