(Arnolds Park)– A fire that originated in a garage nearly spread to a house early Sunday in Arnolds Park.
Arnolds Park-Okoboji Fire Chief Chris Yungbluth says firefighters were called around 3:30 a.m. to a garage fire at the Richard and Patricia Zalabowski residence at Pelican Ridge. Upon arriving firefighters found the garage well involved in the blaze. Yungbluth says the homeowner was trying to put it out with a garden hose prior to the department’s arrival.
Yungbluth says most of the fire was extinguished in about 15 minutes, but firefighters remained on the scene nearly two and-a-half hours ventilating the home and putting out hot spots.
Six people were in the home when the fire broke out. Yungbluth says they were able to get out thanks to some alert neighbors who heard smoke alarms going off and woke the residents up and called 911.
Two of the residents were treated on the scene by paramedics for smoke inhalation. Several others were transported later to Lakes Regional Healthcare to be checked over for smoke inhalation. They were treated and released.
Damage to the home and vehicles in the garage was estimated at 100-thousand dollars.
Yungbluth says the cause remains under investigation, but that it appears a trickle charger connected to a battery on one of the vehicles may have been the cause. He says they believe for some reason the hood of the vehicle came down on top of the charger, causing it to short out.
The Arnolds Park-Okoboji Fire Department was assisted by the Arnolds Park Police Department, Lakes Regional Healthcare Ambulance, Milford Fire and Rescue, Dickinson County Emergency Management and Bob’s Tow and Repair.
Firefighters were called back to the scene around 10:30 a.m. Sunday to extinguish a couple of small flare-ups. They were on the scene an additional two hours.
