KTIV NewsChannel 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and SportsNewest addition to Orange City Fire Dept. help fight Paullina fire

Newest addition to Orange City Fire Dept. help fight Paullina fire

PAULLINA, Iowa (KTIV) -- Another major fire earlier this week in Paullina, Iowa damaged a portion of that city's downtown and investigators are still looking for a cause.

Delicate icicles are a reminder of a forceful fire that took out a chunk of Paullina's main street. Rubble is all that's left of some of the buildings, as investigators comb through the remains, trying to find a cause. 

A row of buildings on the city's main street that were once home to many businesses including a liquor store, a photography shop, and a catering company makes the loss a big blow for a small town.

"Obviously we lost a lot of businesses or at least damamged a lot of businesses," said Dave Schipper.

Other nearby businesses were spared from the flames, but many did suffer smoke and water damage.

Orange City Fire Chief Dennis Vander Wel said, "It's a bad situation to begin with, there are multiple buildings connected together."

In order to help keep the fire from spreading further that night, firefighters used Aerial Ladder Trucks. One from Orange City has only been in operation for two weeks. It's brand new to the department.

"The devestation was already happening, what we needed to do is stop the fire from going down the block to the East or North," said Vander Wel.

If not for the fire-fighting equipment, firefighter might have had even more destruction to go through.

Insurance adjusters and business owners are still trying to fully assess the damage.