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Lake Park fire destroys three buildings
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Fire departments from throughout the region were called for assistance when three buildings caught fire on the east side of Lake Park's main street Sunday morning, December 28. According to a press release from Lake Park fire chief Brandon Ehret, the local department was summoned at 10 a.m., when a fire was reported at 204 Market Street. Upon arrival, firefighters encountered smoke and flames coming from the back of the building. Mutual aid was called for assistance.
Lake Park's water supply was soon exhausted in battling the inferno. Water was then obtained from dry hydrants installed to siphon water from Silver Lake. Fire department tanker trucks assisted with that operation.
The fire burned the Hemphill Family Care Building owned by Denise and Jim Hemphill and two buildings used for storage (owned by Dan Wingert) located to the north of the Family Care Building. The Lake Park post office building, located just south of the Hemphill building, was also damaged. The three buildings were deemed a total loss with fire and smoke damage done to the post office. No mail had been lost or damaged in the weekend blaze. As of Tuesday afternoon, mail was available to city residents at the Legion building, stated postmaster Ben Reed.
Following an investigation Monday by the Lake Park fire department and the Iowa State Fire Marshal's office, the fire's cause has been listed as undermined at this time. The fire's origin was determined to be located in the east end of the Hemphill Family Care Building. According to Ehret, this was a single story portion of the building, attached to the two-story portion. All items in that part of the structure are being evaluated including, but not limited to, the furnace and electrical service.
Ehret stated firefighters were at the site throughout the day and released at approximately 4 p.m. The Lake Park department remained at the scene throughout the evening and into Monday morning.
City administrator Tom Underwood stated other area fire departments responding to the scene were Spirit Lake, Milford, Arnolds Park-Okoboji, Superior, Ocheyedan, Round Lake, Minn., Lakefield, Minn., Fostoria, Everly and Harris.
Underwood stated, "We would like to thank everyone for their generosity with food and the support given to our community during the fire."
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©Ocheyedan Press 2010
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