SIOUX CITY, IA -
A house fire in Riverside, leaves one couple's home a total loss. Now neighbors hope to pull together and provide support.
Firefighters say that the call came in sometime after 2 o'clock, when the homeowner saw a blanket on fire in the front of the house, he called 911 and then got out immediately.
He fled from the burning house, luckily no one was hurt.
Sioux City Fire Department public information officer, Jesse Pedersen, says the house is a complete loss. But firefighters weren't the only ones on scene, neighbors from all over came to see what was going on.
"I smelt (sic) the smoke at first, and looked over, because we were just planning on doing some yard work, and cleaning up and looked over and seen the smoke and heard the sirens coming. We have a relative that lives fairly close, and it was hard to see the proximity of where the smoke was," said neighbor, Craig Torndren.
Firefighters remained on the scene putting out hot spots, one firefighter suffered heat exhaustion and was treated on scene by the paramedics. And Pedersen says, even though the fire is under control, their work isn't finished.
"MidAmerican is here shutting down the electrical line, because the line going to the house is still fully powered, so we have to be careful of that," he said.
The renters of the house declined to comment, but were visually upset. Neighbors consoled them a few houses down. And one neighbor says he expects their community to come together and provide support.
"I'm sure there will be plenty of people to help out and what not, if they need help, that's what kind of community this is here, everybody will pull together, watch out, neighbors watch out all the time," said Torndren.
We placed a call into the Siouxland Red Cross to see if any efforts have been made to help the couple so far, the organization hasn't returned our calls just yet.
To reach reporter Heather Leigh, you can email her at Hleigh@kmeg.com or find her on facebook at www.facebook.com/heatherleighkmeg
