On January 17, 2024, at 7:17PM, the Black Hawk County Dispatch Center received a 911 call reporting a residential fire at 1221 Catherine Street in Cedar Falls. The caller reported that there was a fire in the basement of the home. First arriving units found that all residents had evacuated the home and that fire and smoke was coming from the basement of the structure. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and stopped the spread of the fire. The basement sustained fire and water damage while other parts of the home sustained minor smoke damage. The fire appears to have originated in the home’s furnace system. Cedar Falls Fire Rescue was assisted by Cedar Falls Utilities and Mercy One Paramedics.
Just over two hours earlier, at 5:04PM, Cedar Falls Fire Rescue responded to a report of a residential fire at 1107 Orchard Drive in Cedar Falls. Residents reported a fire on the exterior of the home that they were attempting to extinguish with a fire extinguisher. The fire was out upon arrival and firefighters ensured that there was no extension of the fire into the walls and structure of the home. The investigation into the cause of the fire revealed that a resident had previously been using a heat source to melt ice on the exterior of the home in the area of the fire.