Fire fought for hours

    A house in Wellman was nearly consumed by fire Tuesday afternoon, which was only extinguished after the Wellman and Kalona fire departments spent three hours putting out the blaze. Everyone escaped uninjured from the fire, which occurred at the residence of Richard ?Allen? and Suzan Hopp located at 1506 First Avenue on the northeast edge of town.

    The Wellman Fire Department received a call from the resident of the house, Suzan Hopp, at approximately 12:50 p.m. stating there was smoke coming from a second floor window in the house. The Wellman Fire Department arrived five minutes later and the Kalona Fire Department was called in to assist shortly thereafter. A total of 29 firefighters from the two departments arrived on the scene and began to spray water through the second floor windows and into the garage on the east side of the house.

    The fire departments were still putting out the flames three hours later at 4 p.m. and continued to rake away debris until 6 p.m. Despite the heroic efforts of the firefighters, the fire left the garage and the second floor totally destroyed. The kitchen and dining room on the first floor were also badly damaged.