Otho Fire and Rescue, along with the Duncombe Volunteer Fire Department, responded to the scene.

The fire, located at 2410 235th St., just south of Fort Dodge near Highway 20, started around 3:30 p.m. The fire started in the home’s basement in a utility room area, said Otho Fire and Rescue Chief Marty Smith.

“I think it was probably electrical from the looks of it,” he said.

No one was inside the home when the fire started.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
The Otho and Duncombe fire departments work together to extinguish a fire at 2410 235th St., south of Fort Dodge, on Sunday afternoon.

Pam Bygness, one of the home’s owners, was away at a niece’s bridal shower when the fire broke out. Her husband, Gary Bygness, was outside mowing the lawn and discovered smoke when he went back inside.

“The basement area is pretty well charred and that utility room area, there is actually a hole in the floor to the bathroom right above it because it went through there, so there is some charring on the walls upstairs and then just smoke damage,” Smith said.

Both the Otho and Duncombe fire crews were called to the fire because of Webster County’s “automatic aid” pages, which automatically pages two fire departments to structural fires, Smith said.

“That way we have more manpower,” he said.

The two departments were able to put out the fire and extinguish any remaining hot spots in a little under two hours.

“I was pleased with our guys,” Smith said. “The first unit arrived and we ran a hose and got it going and kept it from spreading to the rest of the house.”

Despite the damage to the basement and the bathroom above it, Pam Bygness remained optimistic and grateful no one was hurt.

“It’s sad, but you know what?” she said. “It’s stuff. I’m not saying I want to lose everything we’ve had for 49 years, but … Gary said he went in and got as far as the kitchen and he could barely make it out. That would have been a tragedy. This is just an inconvenience.”

While Smith said he suspects the cause of the fire was electrical, it remains under investigation.