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Fire damages adjacent FD homes, burning hole in one

Residents in both houses escaped without injury

-Messenger photo by Peter Kaspari
Fort Dodge Firefighters Pat Greve, left, and Meghan Spears prepare to set up a ladder to help put out a house fire at 2050 Third Ave. N.

Two houses received damage, one of them more severely, after a fire started inside one of them in Fort Dodge late Monday morning.

No one was hurt and people in both houses got out safely, according to Fort Dodge Fire Chief Steve Hergenreter.

The fire started just before noon at 2050 Third Ave. N. in the kitchen. Hergenreter said it appeared the fire started near the stove.

That home is owned by Christina Passow, who was able to get out with her 18-month-old daughter.

Hergenreter said Passow’s house had heavy fire damage, and it caused a massive hole on the east side of the house.

-Messenger photo by Peter Kaspari
Fort Dodge Fire Department Lt. Tom Ubben looks over his notes as firefighters remove insulation from a house at 2030 Third Ave. N. that caught fire late Monday morning.

Water and smoke damage could be found throughout the house as well.

The intense heat caused the fire to spread to the home at 2048 Third Ave. N., which is the house on the same side as the hole in the kitchen.

That house, Hergenreter said, is owned by Joe Hudek.

Every one in that house was able to get out safely.

“The radiant heat spread to 2048,” according to Hergenreter.

-Messenger photo by Peter Kaspari
Lt. Tom Ubben, with the Fort Dodge Fire Department, walks away from 2050 Third Ave. N., which caught fire late Monday morning.

But that house didn’t suffer as much damage as 2050.

The siding and overhang suffered some smoke and fire damage.

“We knocked the fire down very quickly,” Hergenreter said.

The damage was contained the exterior of the home, and did not get inside.

Hergenreter commended the firefighters for extinguishing the blaze quickly, and said it could have been a lot worse.

-Messenger photo by Peter Kaspari
Fort Dodge Firefighter Andy Midtling, left, examines smoke and fire damage at 2048 Third Ave. N., while Firefighter Meghan Spears, right, goes toward 2050 Third Ave. N., which caught fire late Monday morning. The fire also damaged the house next door.

“In a couple more seconds, that house would have had significant fire damage,” Hergenreter said.

The Fort Dodge Police Department was also on scene to help with traffic control.

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