Kalona fire consumes garage, damages house

    A fire destroyed the garage of Kalona residents Phil and Sherrie Nisly Thursday morning. The fire began at about 10:30 a.m. at their residence of 1216 Maple Avenue, just south of Kalona. It produced dark smoke which billowed high in the air and was visible from the town.

    The Kalona Fire Department was able to put out the fire before it consumed the adjoining house, with help from the Wellman, Washington and Riverside fire departments. The state fire marshal investigated the fire Thursday afternoon. After three hours of investigation, the fire marshal could not determine the source of the fire other than that it began in the garage.

    Kalona Fire Chief Steve Yotty said the garage and much of the west side of the house was badly damaged in the fire. Phil has a shop on the west side of the house where he works on mobile homes. Yotty said the shop was affected greatly by the flames.

    The east end of the building, where the living quarters are, sustained minimal water damage but major smoke damage. The fire departments were able to salvage photographs and other mementos from the house, and the Nislys were able to remove other belongings before the fire became too intense to return inside. Yotty said items such as their office files on the east end of the house survived the fire but suffered smoke damage.

For more, see our Dec. 27 print edition.