The investigation into the Sunday, October 11th, fire at Woods Products of Wapello, on 11901 107th Street, has concluded and the fire has been ruled accidental.
The investigation revealed that an employee had conducted some open burning on the property Sunday morning and had left the property prior to fully
extinguishing the fire. The fire spread to some discarded material and a large area of stacked wood pallets due to the winds that had picked up that afternoon.
The Burlington Fire Department was called for a trash and wood fire at 11901 107th Street in Flint River Township at 3:25 PM. Firefighters arrived to find a large area of stacked pallets on fire with flames nearly 50 feet high. The fire was spreading very rapidly to the north and igniting
additional wood material and brush.
Due to the limited access, firefighters began defensive operations at the front gate as well as working with neighbors to clear a path through a corn field to access the back side of the involved property. The fire eventually spread to one of the four buildings and to a semi-trailer.
Mutual aid was called from West Burlington, Danville, Mediapolis, and Gladstone Fire Departments for manpower, 4- wheel drive brush trucks, and water tenders. Five off duty Burlington firefighters were called in for additional manpower at the scene as well as standby duty at Central Fire Station. In all, 43 firefighters responded to the fire scene.
Large amounts of water was pumped from a nearby lake and also shuttled from a fire hydrant on West Burlington Avenue. The fire was brought under control at 6:45 PM. One firefighter suffered a minor hand injury.
The property, owned by Odessa Wood Products of Wapello Iowa, suffered an estimated $100,000 in damages and is insured. The business was closed at the time of the fire and nobody was on site. The investigation was conducted by the Burlington Fire Department and the Des Moines County Sheriff’s Office.
