A used Dodge Ram 1500 that had been for sale for the asking price of $600, almost cost it’s owners a great deal more when it caught fire Friday afternoon. While parked right next to their home in the 800 block of S. Commercial. And also right beside a gas tank.
The call came in at 3:12 pm, December 10th. Within 4 minutes, the Eagle Grove Police Department and the Eagle Grove Fire Department were dispatched to the scene.
Captain Michael Stuckey of the Eagle Grove P.D. arrived on scene just two minutes later. He parked his vehicle, retrieved his fire extinguisher, and rushed towards the burning vehicle. At about the same time, local man Jim Fisher stopped his vehicle, and went to assist Capt. Stuckey.
About then, at the intersection of Broadway and Commercial, Eagle Grove Police Chief Ray Beltran had stopped his vehicle to block traffic, and was flagging the fire trucks through.
Capt. Stuckey emptied his fire extinguisher on the blaze, and brought it mostly under control. But due to the intense heat and fuel rich environment, the fire continued to smolder, threatening to re-emerge.
But in another few minutes, at 3:23, the Eagle Grove Fire Department arrived on the scene in force. Promptly, they doused the smoking engine compartment with approximately one hundred gallons of water, according to Fire Chief Tom Peterson. Thoroughly extinguishing the fire.
“I’m just glad everyone was OK,” Capt. Stuckey said, referring to the residents of the house, who were home and in harm’s way at the time the fire broke out. “And thanks to Jim Fisher, for stopping to help.”
Owing to the way the Eagle Grove emergency services responded like a well oiled machine, the only loss was a different kind of well oiled machine. And the tragedy that might have ensued if the fire had burned any longer was averted.
