Two Displaced After Friday House Fire in Northeast Jamestown, Firefighters Contain Blaze

Two occupants were displaced after a fire damaged the main-level living unit at 923 2nd Ave. NE in northeast Jamestown, Fire Chief Jim Reuther said. Five units and 16 firefighters responded to the two-family house at about 3:35 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27.

"When firefighters arrived on scene, fire and smoke were coming out of the front windows on the main floor," Reuther said, describing initial conditions. Reuther said firefighters used a preconnected hose to "knock the fire down before two firefighters made entry and extinguished the fire." He added that fans were used to extract smoke from the residence, which has a living unit on the main level and another in the basement.

Reuther provided an assessment of damage and medical checks: "the housing unit on the main level had heavy damage. He said the lower unit had minimal water damage." Jamestown Area Ambulance personnel checked two occupants on scene for smoke inhalation, and Reuther said no one was transported to a medical facility. No injuries to firefighters were reported.

Multiple city and utility agencies joined the response. Reuther said Jamestown Police Department, Otter Tail Power Co., Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., and the City of Jamestown Water Department all responded to the scene, and the American Red Cross was on scene to help the displaced occupants. Firefighters were on scene for about 45 minutes before clearing.

The Jamestown Fire Department has not announced a cause. "The cause of the fire is under investigation," Reuther said, and no timetable for findings was provided. The department has noted the residence is a two-family house with a main-level living unit and a basement unit; it did not release an estimate of monetary loss or whether alarms activated.

Officials who responded can be contacted for additional details about the occupants' relocation and any follow-up assistance from the Red Cross. The department's immediate operations, deploying five units, using a preconnected hose, and sending two firefighters inside to extinguish the blaze, contained the fire to the main-level unit and limited water damage to the lower unit, preventing reported injuries and restricting the incident to a roughly 45-minute on-scene response.