Semi-trailer fire extinguished at Winnebago

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Strong winds wafted billowing smoke high into the sky over 210th Street in Charles City early Friday afternoon after a semi-trailer caught fire at Winnebago Industries.

The Charles City Fire Department, along with the Floyd and Colwell volunteer fire crews, were able to put the blaze out in about two hours, according to CCFD Assistant Fire Chief Marty Parcher.

Fire crews were dispatched to the fire that started in a trailer outside a building on the Winnebago lot around 12:30 p.m. Parcher said winds from the south made controlling the fire more difficult.

“Wind played a part in it but we were lucky that it was in the position that it was and what it was in so that it didn’t actually get away from it. But the wind definitely fanned it,” said Parcher.

Parcher said there was major structural damage to the trailer that caught on fire and a second trailer sitting right next to it received heat discoloration, but no structural damage.

Parcher said no one was injured as a result of the blaze and the cause of the fire is undetermined at this point.

There were three engines, three tankers and a fire truck on the scene to battle the blaze. Parcher said about 10 firefighters helped put out the fire.