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Name released of 93-year-old who died in Fairfax fire
Two people also were injured in the fire Sunday morning

Oct. 6, 2025 1:12 pm
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The Linn County Sheriff’s Office has released the name of a 93-year-old man who died early Sunday morning in a fire in Fairfax.
Russell Olson died in a house fire early Sunday morning. According to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office, fire crews responded to the fire at 256 Olson Ct., in Fairfax, at 2:24 a.m. Sunday and found the house “fully involved.”
The home’s owners, identified in the press release as David and Nancy Olson, were taken to a hospital for smoke inhalation, and then taken to the University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center for treatment. Two other people who’d been in the house were able to escape the fire unharmed.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Linn County Sheriff’s Office. Other agencies responding to the fire included Cedar Rapids Police, Iowa State Patrol, fire departments from Fairfax, Atkins, Norway, Cedar Rapids and Swisher, and the Linn County Medical Examiners Office.
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