(Spirit Lake)– Fire has destroyed a house in the East Okoboji Beach area on the east side of East Lake Okoboji. Spirit Lake Fire Chief Pat Daly tells KUOO news they were called to 25924 Walleye Drive at 10:42 am this (Thurs.) morning…
“We had a report of a house, structure fire. When we got on the scene the back was already involved and shortly after we got there it went through the roof. We ended up getting a tanker shuttle going and shut down M-56 by the boat ramp and up by the water tower so we had two fill sites for the tankers.”
Daly says they quickly called for assistance from the Arnolds Park-Okoboji, Estherville, Lake Park, Milford and Terril Fire Departments. Daly says one person was in the residence at the time the fire broke out…
“The one guy that lived there was there. He got out, the dog got out, the cat didn’t. But yeah, the dog actually, he was out in the garage behind, the guy was, and the dog actually opened the sliding door and got out the back door, so they had him out there, so.”
Daly says it’s believed the fire started in the kitchen, but he says the cause is uncertain. The State Fire Marshal was on the scene earlier this (Thurs.) afternoon. Daly says trying to get an adequate supply of water was a big issue in battling the fire…
“We don’t have any hydrants out there so. We set one fill site up at the boat ramp there just outside of Spirit Lake, we could set some portable pumps in there. We were filling there and the rural water opened up the gate and let us fill tankers off their hydrant right there underneath their tower, so we actually had two fill sites, so it made it better. Eventually we did bring our aerial down in there. We had to get some stuff out of the road before we could get in there but we kind of just stuck that up and pointed it down and just made it rain. That’s what put most of it out, we just had to fight it and fight it until we could get something in there, so.”
Daly says there was also some live ammunition in the house that discharged in the fire. He says a nearby residence was struck but no one was hurt.
Firefighters were on the scene more than four hours.
Daly says Emmet County Emergency Management also stood by on the scene along with an ambulance from Lakes Regional Healthcare and the Dickinson County Secondary Roads Department.
