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HARTINGTON — The Hartington Volunteer Fire Department responded Tuesday night to a house fire at the Terry Nelson residence on North Madison Avenue.
Fire crews not only had to fight the blaze, but also had to battle arctic conditions as temperatures registered as low as 15 degrees below zero early Wednesday morning.
Hartington Fire Chief Ryan Marsh said crews did not experience any equipment issues because of the arctic conditions. The cold weather did have an affect on the fire personnel, though, he said.
Firemen were dispatched to the scene at 11:30 p.m. Additional fire fighters from Coleridge and Fordyce were immediately called in to help put out the blaze.
Shortly after fire crews arrived, flames from the garage area of the house could be seen shooting 20 feet into the air.
Despite the firefighters best efforts, the house was deemed a total loss.
Marsh said the cause of the fire is still undetermined at this time, but he suspects the wood stove was likely to blame.
Crews stayed on the scene for several hours. The final fire fighters, Marsh and a few others stayed on the scene until 5:45 a.m.
A few firemen returned to the scene at 8:30 a.m. to make sure nothing was still smouldering. They also geared up and went back into the house to retrieve a few family heirlooms and per-
