Fire destroys garage

By KENT THOMPSON
The Humboldt Fire Department responded to a garage on fire in the 500 block of 11th Street SW in Humboldt on Thursday afternoon.
The garage was fully engulfed when emergency personnel arrived, but fast action by about 15 Humboldt firefighters saved the ranch style home, although there was smoke and water damage to part of the structure.
“It is currently uninhabitable,” Humboldt Assistant Fire Chief Kim Jensen reported at the scene Thursday afternoon.
The home at 504 11th Street SW, directly east of the Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, is owned by Neal Schneider, who lives there with his girlfriend, Bethany Erb, and their two children, Travis, 6, and Makenna, 3.
The couple was home at the time the fire broke out, shortly after 3:30 p.m. on Thursday.
“I was burning some wood for baseboards in the garage, which I’ve probably done 1,000 times before,” Schneider told the Humboldt Independent. “Sparks got under a couch and caught it on fire,” he said.
“I had propane, a small amount of fuel and lots and lots of wood in there,” Schneider said.
Erb said she and Schneider tried to put out the burning couch with water, but it quickly spread out of control. When Humboldt Police Officer Tom Nielsen arrived on the scene around 3:45 p.m., he reported the garage fully engulfed.
“He was doing some woodworking with some propane [a torch] and a spark got under the couch and started it ablaze. It grew from there and we did get two tankers here and got it knocked down pretty quickly. We were able to save the house but there is water damage to the north side of the house and the house being attached was smoke-filled, so there will be smoke damage to the main floor of the house and the basement,” Assistant Chief Jensen said.
“The fire damage was pretty well contained to the garage and the north edge of the house and north part of the roof. We’ll let the insurance people figure that out,” Jensen said.
“I’m not sure if there was an explosion, but we heard a whoosh and got out of there quick,” Erb said. Erb knows what to do in case of a fire. Her father has been a city of Coralville firefighter for the past 17 years.
One dog in the residence was saved, but the family’s pet cat perished. Humboldt firefighters attempted to resuscitate the animal to no avail.
The fire department and Humboldt Police were on the scene for about 70 minutes.
Schneider has owned the home for the past six years.
See more photos from this event in the June 9 Humboldt Independent.