Merrill and Hinton Fire Departments Respond to Weekend Fires

(Le Mars) -- Both the Merrill and the Hinton Fire Departments had to respond to calls over the weekend.  The Merrill Fire Department had a tree that had caught on fire.  That incident occurred at about 2:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at 714 3rd street.  The fire department was able to extinguish that fire within a few minutes.  Meanwhile, the Hinton Fire Department responded to a field fire on Sunday afternoon.  The fire was reported at 27684 on County road C-60.  Fire officials received the call at about 2:15 p.m. Sunday afternoon.  Fire officials had the fire contained within 45 minutes.

Storm Lake Man Drowns At Lake

(Storm Lake) -- The Buena Vista County Sheriff's Department is reporting a drowning that occurred Friday night at about 9:05 p.m.  A 9-1-1 call to the sheriff's office indicated a male subject was in the lake unconscious and not breathing.  Upon arrival, CPR had already been initiated and continued along with the use of a defibulator by the sheriff's office.  The man was transported to the Buena Vista Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.   The male subject has been identified as 64 year old Steve McCullough of Storm Lake, Iowa.

Concession Stand Catches Fire

(Alta) -- Buena Vista County authorities are also investigating a fire that started early Saturday morning at the concession stand building at the Buena Vista County fairgrounds at Alta.  Upon arrival by emergency crews, flames were coming from the northwest corner of the building and up into the roof.  The Alta Fire Department was able to contain the fire to the building and within 20 minutes had it under control.  The Buena Vista County Fair was in its third day and the concession stand had been heavily used Wednesday and Thursday nights, but had not been open on Friday evening.  The cause of the fire revealed that an electrical malfunction inside the building was the cause.  The damage was contained to the building and the contents, however, there were other food vendors next to the building that had electrical hookups for frozen foods and those foods are possibly a total loss.  The damage is estimated at about $80,000.