Le Mars fire chief David Schipper said the Le Mars and Orange City fire departments were called at 4:22 p.m. to IML, at 1620 24th St. SW in Le Mars, for a compressor that had caught fire, and what was described as an “explosion” in the building.
IML employees stood watching as the firefighters went in and out of the building, deploying water hoses and venting the smoke. None of the employees or firefighters were hurt in the fire.
“Everybody did evacuate safely, we did an accountability check, and everybody made it out of the building just fine,” Schipper said.
The building was damaged to an unknown extent by the heavy smoke, which Schipper said came from burning oil in the compressor. Additionally, electrical and water infrastructure were damaged, and the compressor that caught fire was destroyed.
“It’s going to be quite a while before this place is back up and in business,” he said.
Schipper credited the building’s sprinkler system for helping to control the fire.
“Once again, sprinklers do save a lot, they did contain the fire for us,” he said.
