Fire claims life in Clearfield
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By Jeff Snyder
CLEARFIELD, Iowa — A recent fire claimed the life of long time Clearfield resident, Deborah Scott (age 78) on February 7. The home located at 1665 North 110th Avenue is in the a rural part of town located about a mile to the east of town center.
The house was fully engaged by the time Ringgold County sheriff’s deputy Nathan Nickle arrived on scene. Deputy Nickle was greeted by Deborah Scott’s husband at the end of a gravel driveway already suffering thermal injuries from his attempts to extinguish the fire and rescue his wife. Firefighters from multiple departments made an attempt to enter the structure but the smoke drove them back. Mrs. Scott was trapped on the main floor where she was eventually recovered by first-responders.
Her husband Larry, was transported to Iowa City for treatment of his thermal injuries and has since been released. According to his own Facebook page, Mr. Scott is staying at a hotel in the Creston area while he tries to piece together the next steps in his recovery.
Officials have completed their investigation into the fire and deemed the fire accidental in nature. The Iowa State Fire Commissioners office headed up the investigation along with members of the Ringgold County Sheriff’s Department. The fire Marshal’s/ Commissioner’s involvement is standard any time there is a fatality in a fire.
On February 9 a number of firefighters from the Diagonal Volunteer Fire Department were dispatched to the scene as the fire site re-ignited due to high winds in the area.
According to the firefighters on scene, it is not uncommon for a structure fire such as this one to flare back up even days later if weather conditions enable re-ignition. Fire department officials were worried that a flare up such as this one could ignite nearby grass fields and spread to neighboring structures. They were able to further extinguish the fire and remained on scene until they were satisfied that the fire would no longer ignite.
The following departments responded to the blaze: Lenox, Clearfield, Diagonal, Mount Ayr, Kellerton, Blockton, Prescott and Bedford.
