Cedar Rapids Building Fire Causes Significant Damage
At around the same time as a Marengo blaze was causing evacuations and hospitalizations due to injuries, crews were helping battle a separate fire in Southwest Cedar Rapids on Thursday.
The location this time was on the upper floor of a building at 3330 Southgate Court SW. It's a mixed-use building near 33rd Avenue Southwest, containing a church, offices, and commercial space where KCRG says the fire started around 1:50 p.m. According to KCRG:
Firefighters were initially unable to enter the building to fight the flames due to wind conditions, instead using ladders and ground-based hoses to knock down the fire. This allowed firefighters to eventually enter the building to continue to work to extinguish the fire.
Nobody was hurt in this incident but widespread damage was caused to all areas of the building due to smoke, flame, and water. "Unattended smoking materials" are being blamed as the cause.
Meanwhile, in that blaze in Iowa County at a building currently leased by C6-Zero, a company that remanufactures asphalt shingles, and was once a soybean crusher plant, we're told 10-15 people, including multiple burn victims, were taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for treatment. No fatalities were reported as the fire continued to flare into the night Thursday evening. New information from KCRG states that residents who were evacuated from their homes are starting to be allowed to return.
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