Surveillance video of the home explosion on January 4th from resident Mark Waltman.

The first week for Washington’s new fire chief has been a memorable one, with the home explosion that resulted in two injuries Monday.

Fire Chief Brendan DeLong says he felt overwhelmed quickly when he arrived on scene for the house fire that resulted from an explosion at 1114 East Washington Street a little after 4 a.m., but he said that he jumped in and performed his duties as expected. The fire was promptly extinguished by the Washington and Ainsworth fire departments for the explosion that occurred in the north half of the house, and DeLong says the department decided to fully collapse the structure before they left the scene around noon.

Since the incident DeLong says many organizations have reached out to provide assistance to the displaced occupants who are being treated at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. He comments on the community’s response, “I would just say that I’m very happy to live in Washington. Anytime we have a disaster, an emergency, this town pulls together. Just from all the responding agencies that I had yesterday helping us, Ainsworth Fire Department was one of them, they come and they don’t even ask any questions and they just are there wanting to, you know, ‘What can we do to help you out in this situation?’ And that’s very rewarding in this community.”

The cause of the explosion remains under investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s Office. DeLong recommends anyone who would like to assist those affected by the explosion to contact Washington County Emergency Management Coordinator Marissa Reisen at (319) 653-7794 or at ema@co.washington.ia.us.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS