Hedrick House fire "Total loss"

HEDRICK – Four Keokuk County fire departments responded to a structure fire at 107 West Third Street in Hedrick in the early morning hours of Nov. 2.  The auto aid call came in at 2:29 a.m. and fire departments from Hedrick, Fremont, Wapello County Rural and Sigourney responded. “An auto aid call is when a 911 structure fire call comes in, the call automatically goes out to all county fire departments,” explained Sigourney Fire Department Chief Bill Halleran. Approximately twenty-five firefighters and a dozen fire equipment vehicles answered the call.

When the first responders arrived on scene a three car garage, where the fire originated, was fully engulfed with twenty foot high flames. A second garage and the house were also burning. The approximately sixteen occupants of the house made it out although some family pets were lost. All three structures as well as their contents were a total loss.  A shell of the house still stands but both garages are completely gone.

A neighbors' home located about forty-five feet north of the large garage also sustained siding and window damage from the heat of the fire. 

Hedrick Fire Department Assistant Chief Brandon Petruhn stated the “fire was under control by 3:30 a.m. but firefighters remained on scene until 11 a.m. putting out hot spots and investigating until 11 a.m.”.  The cause of the fire, which ordinates in the large garage, is still under investigation.