Weekend house fire in Richland was quickly doused

RICHLAND — A handful of fire departments paged to a house fire in Richland over the weekend turned around a few minutes after getting the call, as local crews said the incident was limited to a single room of the house and easily extinguished.

Richland Fire Chief Mitch Ehrenfelt said a homeowner’s efforts to cut apart a set of bed springs March 29 sparked a flame in the room with wooden floors.

The response took “minutes” according to the fire chief, who said volunteer firefighters ventilated the house afterward to clear out the smoke.

“It wasn’t much of a fire, but you don’t know that until you get there,” Ehrenfelt said. “It’s better to have more help coming than to get there and realize you needed help.”

Ehrenfelt said dispatchers didn’t get much information beyond the report of a house fire at the address, and called for mutual aid from Keota, Packwood and Brighton. The move was standard procedure for any structure fire, especially given the share of Richland firefighters already out of town for training.

The incident ultimately did “almost no structural damage to the house,” Ehrenfelt said, adding, “They said they put less than a gallon of water on it, then stomped out the fire.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com