On Friday, March 20 around 12:45 a.m., people reported a house/garage fire in the 7600 block of Vandalia Road.
Runnells fire department along with automatic mutual aid from Altoona, Mitchellville, and Pleasant Hill responded. Runnells brought an engine and tanker, Altoona, an engine and tanker, Mitchellville with a tanker, and Pleasant Hill with a ladder and engine.
The firefighters were able to remove pets from the house. Firefighters also found the morthwest corner and back of the house's first floor fully involved. The fire had jumper across on open breezeway igniting the roof and side of a three-car garage.
The initial attack quickly depleted the water supply due to the rural location and no hydrants. Additional tankers were requested by the incident commander which brought six more units. Two from Pleasantville, two from Monroe, one from Delaware and one from Hartford. Trucks refilled from two locations, an elementary school and newer housing development about three miles away.
Firefighters fought the fire until the morning hours with the first units not being released until around 5 a.m. The fire also required the closing of Vandalia Road for about six hours.
