ROCKWELL — A fire tore through the West Fork Elementary School bus barn in Rockwell Monday afternoon, leaving the building and its contents with significant damage as firefighters from several Northern Iowa communities rushed to the scene.
The Rockwell Fire Department was dispatched shortly before 4 p.m. Monday, August 24, to the transportation building at the West Fork Elementary campus in Rockwell.
Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke and flames coming from the bus barn.
Despite the conditions encountered when crews reached the property, firefighters were able to quickly knock down the blaze and bring it under control before it could spread further.
Rockwell Fire Department responded in force with five pieces of fire apparatus and 15 firefighters.
The department said the building and contents sustained significant damage.
Officials have not publicly released a dollar estimate for the loss or detailed exactly what equipment or vehicles were inside the building when the fire broke out. It also was not immediately clear whether any school buses were damaged or destroyed.
No injuries were reported by the fire department.
The cause of the fire has not been publicly announced.
The fire prompted a multi-agency emergency response.
Rockwell-Swaledale EMS assisted firefighters at the scene, while additional help came from the Sheffield Fire Department, Swaledale Fire Department and Rockwell Police Department.
Rockwell firefighters publicly thanked the neighboring departments and emergency personnel who responded to assist.
West Fork Elementary is located at 210 S. Second Street in Rockwell and is part of the West Fork Community School District. The district also operates its middle and high school campus in Sheffield.
The bus barn serves the school operation in a rural district where transportation is particularly important because West Fork draws students from multiple communities across portions of Cerro Gordo and surrounding counties.
The extent to which the fire will affect the district’s transportation operations has not been publicly detailed.
The incident is not Rockwell’s first destructive fire involving a school-related property.
NIT reported in January 2016 when a massive fire heavily damaged the former Sacred Heart school and parish building in Rockwell. Firefighters from numerous neighboring departments spent hours battling that blaze in bitter winter conditions.
Monday’s West Fork fire was brought under control considerably faster, but the damage to the bus barn and whatever school property was stored inside was described by firefighters as significant.
Further information on the cause of the fire, the value of the loss and the impact on West Fork’s transportation fleet had not been released.
(TOP PHOTO via Rockwell Fire Dept.)