Loots: We Can Learn a Lot from Hamilton County Fire

By: Nathan Bloechl — [email protected]

Dakota City, Iowa — A Sunday morning fire at the Hamilton County Maintenance Shed in Webster City has left the building in ruins.

According to several reports, thousands of dollars worth of equipment and snowplows were lost as a result of the fire, which began it’s burn at about 5:15 a.m. Sunday morning.

Fire teams from Duncombe, Stanhope and Woolstock worked on site for much of the day Sunday trying to contain the blaze.

Hamilton County Enginner Nikki Stinn said that the “heating and air conditioning” along with “two plows and seven pickups” were lost during the fire.

Each plow totals upwards of $200,000, while the pickups are around $30,000.

Humboldt County Engineer Ben Loots, who briefed the Board of Supervisors on the matter yesterday, said there’s a lot to learn from the situation.

It’s an eye-opener” Loots told the board. “Now we just want to make sure everything is [proper].” 

Loots mentioned that he would reach out to Stinn to see how they could best help, saying that they have an extra truck that does not run snow routes they could offer up in the short-term.

That’d be a good faith gesture” supervisor Erik Underberg said.

The State Fire Marshal has been called in to Webster City to assist with the fire investigation.

No injuries were reported as a result of the blaze.