Thursday morning blaze put out at South Main residence

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

A fire broke out around midnight Thursday morning at 407 S. Main in Charles City.

The fire scorched the second story of the residence, and extensive fire and smoke damage was visible from the outside of the house.

Charles City Fire Chief Eric Whipple said all tenants were able to be evacuated and are safe. There were no injuries to any fire personnel fighting the blaze.

“We were able to knock down the fire fairly quickly, within 15 to 20 minutes,” said Whipple.

The owner and landlord of the residence, Steve Litterer, said there are three apartments in the house, with two upstairs. A smaller unit on the upper floor received smoke and water damage. The larger apartment is where it appeared the fire started, according to Litterer. There was also smoke and water damage to the ground floor.

Whipple stated the cause of the fire is not known at this time and the investigation is ongoing. He did rule out foul play or anything suspicious.

The Charles City Fire Department responded to the call, along with the assistance of the Floyd and Colwell firefighting teams. AMR, the Charles City Police Department and Mid-American Energy were also on the scene to make sure the area was safe and secure.

When crews arrived at the house, fire was coming out of a window upstairs on the north side of the building. The fire team then went inside the building to put out any remaining hotspots according to Whipple. Whipple stated the fire was well into the second floor and in the bedroom.

As of Thursday afternoon, the tenants of the house have not moved back into the residence.

“It’s not habitable right now. It’s basically up to the landlord when it needs to be repaired and when the tenants can get back into the building,” said Whipple.