Fire burns hole in Fair Oaks roof | News, Sports, Jobs

Firefighters remained on scene for approximately three hours trying to put out the flames. No one was hurt.

Fire Chief Steve Hergenreter said “human action” caused the fire.

The fire at the former school at 416 S. 10th St. was reported at 11:39 a.m. Hergenreter said it was reported by people near UnityPoint Health – Trinity Regional Medical Center, which is located in across the Des Moines River from the school, who saw flames. firing from the roof on the west side of the building.

When firefighters arrived, they noticed a lot of smoke in the school auditorium. The source of the smoke was a room on the third floor that was engulfed in flames. Reaching the fire proved to be a challenge.

-Photo submitted

Fort Dodge firefighters are working to put out a blaze that sent flames through the roof of the former Fair Oaks Middle School, 416 S. 10th St., Monday morning.

On the east side, the school is a two-story building. But on the west side, where the fire broke out, it is a three-story building. It was impossible to approach the fire ladder truck near the building on the west side. As a result, firefighters pulled 500 feet of hose through the entrance on the northeast side of the building. To reach the fire on the roof, they climbed through a window onto a second-story roof, then used an extension ladder to reach the third-story roof.

A large diameter pipe was strung along South 10th Street to connect to a fire hydrant located at Third Avenue South and 10th Street.

“It’s quite an operation” Hergenreter said.

The fire that engulfed the roof spread approximately 30 feet in all directions.

“They have to demolish the roof to put out the fire.” Hergenreter said.

He said the roof was a very dangerous place to work because there were large holes where air handling equipment had been removed, possibly by thieves looking for metal to sell.

Seven off-duty firefighters were called to intervene. Firefighters were on site until 2:40 p.m.

The school has been vacant since 2018. Since then, a few small fires have broken out in the building.

“We have had many fires started by squatters” Hergenreter said.

He said when police and firefighters arrived at the school Monday, there were up to three people there who he described as “squatters” on the property.

Fair Oaks and Phillips middle schools closed in 2013 when the new Fort Dodge Middle School opened at 800 N. 32nd St. The following year, the buildings were sold to Foutch Brothers LLC, of ​​Kansas City, Missouri , which announced plans to transform schools into apartment buildings.

In 2015, after serious structural issues forced the closure of the former Duncombe Elementary School building at Sixth Avenue North and 16th Street, Foutch Brothers authorized the Fort Dodge Community School District to relocate the students and teachers of this school in the Fair Oaks building. This arrangement ended with the opening of the new Duncombe Primary School in 2018.

Foutch Brothers renovated the former Phillips Middle School at 1019 Fourth Ave. N. into apartments, but so far no work has been done on the Fair Oaks building.

Online records from the Webster County Assessor's Office indicate the building's current owner is Fair Oaks Homes LLC, of ​​Johnston. These records show it was built in 1931.