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Extension cord caused Oakland Cemetery fire

Mowers, pickup still usable despite blaze

Some mowers and other tools needed to maintain Oakland Cemetery survived a Wednesday night fire that ravaged a maintenance garage at the historic Fort Dodge site.

City crews were there Thursday, sorting through the wreckage and putting up temporary walls to enclose the fire-damaged building.

The fire was reported at 9:08 p.m. Wednesday. It caused “pretty significant fire damage” to the structure, Fire Chief Steve Hergenreter said Thursday.

He said the fire was caused by the failure of an electrical extension cord connected to a refrigerator.

“They got in there just in time,” Kevin Lunn, the city’s parks and forestry superintendent, said of the firefighters. “Another couple of minutes and it would have got into some gasoline and then there would have been a big problem.”

A Ford pickup truck in the garage sustained smoke damage and a sliding window on the back of its cab melted, but a city worker was able to drive it to the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department shop, Lunn said.

He added that the mowers also received smoke damage, but appeared to be operational.

“Everything appears to be still usable,” he said.

He said some string trimmers, chain saws, a battery charger and a pole saw were destroyed.

Lunn said city crews made some repairs so that the building can be used.

“It’s going to be tricky, but we’ll make it work,” he said.

He said a decision on potentially demolishing the garage will be made after consulting insurance adjustors.

Oakland Cemetery, in the 1600 block of North 15th Street, was established in 1859. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

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