Avenue N home burns Sunday morning

Foam and water get dumped into the second floor of a structure just south of McDonald's Sunday morning in Fort Madison.

Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

A lone FM Firefighter walks across the ladder assembly on top of a Fort Madison aerial fire truck before deploying to a home in the 3400 block of Avenue N.

Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

FM firefighters work on the front of a home in the 3400 block of Avenue N Sunday morning. The home caught fire at about 7:30 in the morning Sunday in Fort Madison.

Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

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Small blessings

It’s just a blessing that I decided this morning to come to work. I was thinking of staying home because of all the hours we’ve been working. But by the time we coaxed them out and firefighters got there the first floor windows were pouring with black smoke.”

Shawn Skinner, good samaritan

FORT MADISON – A Sunday morning fire has left several Fort Madison residents without a home.
Fort Madison firefighters were called to 3426 Avenue N for a structure fire Sunday at 7:38 a.m.
Two contractors working in the area noticed the smoke and called for assistance and then started calling and knocking for anyone in the structure.
“We ran around back and knocked on the door and, sure enough, there were people standing inside the door,” said Sean Skinner, one of the contractors.
“We had to coax them because they weren’t coming out. Then when they came out we asked if everybody was out and they said there may be someone upstairs. By that time, there was some really heavy smoke coming from the house.”
The other contractor, Shane McKoon, said he had to stop a woman from running back into the house.
Skinner said he almost called off work Sunday, which would have kept him and McKoon at home in Keokuk.
“It’s just a blessing that I decided this morning to come to work. I was thinking of staying home because of all the hours we’ve been working. But by the time we coaxed them out and firefighters got there, the first floor windows were pouring with black smoke.
“I figure this may make up for all the bad things I’ve ever done in my life,” Skinner said in deciding to go to work on Sunday.
Both contractors are former members of the Jackson Township Fire Department.
Fort Madison Fire Chief Joey Herren said everyone that was suspected of being in the building was accounted for and no injuries were suffered as a result of the fire.
Fort Madison police remained on the scene throughout the day to investigate the fire.
No cause of the fire has been released yet. Herren said the building is a total loss.
He said the fire spread throughout the house fairly quickly and fire was on all three levels, including the attic, by the time firefighters had arrived. Flames were quickly quashed, but firefighters were on the scene for close to four hours making sure the fire was extinguished.
The home was owned by Jennie Hartman and is valued at $91,000.