IT IS SNOWING IN MAQUOKETA. STARTED LAST NIGHT AND LIGHT SNOW ALL
DAY SO FAR.

FIRE NOTES:
MAQUOKETA FIREMEN WERE CALLED OUT AGAIN LAST NIGHT AND THIS MORNING FOR SEVERAL HOURS TO PUT OUT HOT SPOTS. FIRE CHEIF MARK BECK SAID COAL WAS FOUND IN AN ABANDONED COAL CHUTE AT THE BACK OF THE HALLMARK BUILDING. THAT'S WHERE THE FLARE UPS OCCURRED.
THE FIRM MARSHALL HAS COMPLETED HIS INVESTIGATION AND DETERMINED THE FIRE WAS NOT SUSLLPICIOUS. FIRE CHIEF BECK SAID BECAUSE OF THE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF STRUCTURAL DAMAGE, TEH FIRE MARSHALL COULD NOT MAKE A DETERMINATION OF WHAT STARTED THE FIRE. BECK SAID THEY NEVER WILL. IT WILLBE LEFT UNDETERMINED. THE FIRE STARTED IN AN UPSTAIRS APARTMENT ABOVE JACKSON COUNTY HOME FURNISHINGS. OWNER OF THE BUSINESS AND BUILDING, JENNIFER WESTPHAL SAID THE APARTMENT WAS RENTED TO DEWY DANIELS AND HAS BEEN FOR YEARS. THE OTHER APARTMENT WAS NOT RENTED. I HAVE HEARD THAT DANIELS CAME HOME EARLY IN THE MORNING AND WHEN HE OPENED THE DOOR, SMELLED SMOKE AND IMMEDIATELY WENT DOWNTOWN TO A BAR AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS CALLED. CHEIF BECK SAID A CORN FURNACE LOCATED IN THE FURNITURE STORE WAS NOT A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THE FIRE. THE FURNACE IS LOCATED IN THE LOWER LEVEL OF THE STORE AND IN THE BACK. THE FIRE STARTED IN THE FRONT OF THE UPPER FLOOR APARTMENT. IT WAS INSTALLED 3 YEARS AGO.
BOTH WESTPHAL AND KAREN BREITBACH OF THE FLOOR COVERING STORE, SAID YESTERDAY THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH THEIR BUSINESSES.
BOTH SAID THEY WERE IN SHOCK. WESTPHAL SAID SHE'S GOT FURNURE COMING IN THIS WEEK FOR CUSTOMERS AND KEN MOORE OFFERED HER A BUILDING TO ALLOW THEM TO RECEIVE FURNITURE. SHE SAID THAT DECISION ON WHAT TO DO WITH INCOMING FURNITURE WILL BE MADE THIS WEEK. SUE WILKE, OWNER OF THE HALLMARK STORE SATURDAY NIGHT SAID SHE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT SHE WOULD DO ABOUT HER BUSINESS. THE DENTAL OFFICE OF DR. ATIENZA MAY BE ABLE TO OPEN IN A WEEK OR SO. FIRE CHIEF BECK SAID THAT AFTER A TOUR OF THE PICKLE BARREL RESTAURANT SUNDAY,THEY FOUND IT HAD WATER AND SMOKE DAMAGE, BUT NO FIRE DAMAGE. CHAD ELLIS AND BEN HANTEN, OWNERS OF THE BUSINESS THAT HAD NOT YET OPENED, SAID THEY GOT SOME THINGS OUT. BOTH OWNERS SAID THEY WILL OPEN THE SANDWICH RESTAURANT IF THE BUILDING IS FOUND TO BE STRUCTURALLY SAFE.
MAQUOKETA FIREMEN SPEND NEARLY 30 HOURS PUTTING THE FIRE OUT, ASSISTED BY FIREMEN FROM NEALY 20 OTHER DEPARTMENTS. ON SUNDAY, LOCAL FIREMEN WERE CLEANING UP EQUIPMENT. ASSISTANT FIRE CHEIF AL MUHLHAUSEN SAID THAT INNOVATIVE PROTEINS, THE LAND O' LAKES PLANT IN THE MAQUOKETA INDUSTRIAL PARK OFFERED THEIR HEATED GARAGES AND FIREMEN USED THOSE
GARAGES TO WARM UP TRUCKS AND GET THEM CLEANED UP. WITH THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW FIRE STATION, THERE'S NOT A LOT OF ROOM TO DO THINGS NOW. THE FLOOR OF THE NEW FIRE STATION WAS USED TO DRY OUT AIR PACKS AND OTHER EQUIPMENT.
THE GATEWAY CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN RED CROSS ASSISTED OVER THE WEEKEND. IN A NEWS RELEASE, THEY SAID THEY PROVED EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE TO 17 PEOPLE. THERE WAS ONE TENANT OF A BURNING BUILDING APARTMENT, DEWY DANIELS AND THE OTHERS THEY HELPED WERE THOSE WHO LIVED IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA AND THEIR POWER WAS OUT. RED CROSS VOLUNTEERS HELPED FAMILIES FIND A PLACE TO STAY ALONG WITH PROVIDING FOOD AND CLOTHING.
I WILL HAVE OTHER LOCAL NEWS IN A SEPARATE REPORT HERE....LATER TODAY.
THANKS FOR CHECKING IN.
DENNIS VOY