Fire causes ‘major damage’ to Mount Vernon home

MOUNT VERNON - A fire did major damage to a Mount Vernon home Monday evening.

The Mount Vernon Fire Department responded to a house fire at 1396 Arrowhead Lane at 6:39 p.m. Monday. Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said first responders encountered smoke coming from the roofline of the residence when they arrived. Soon after that, flames were shooting from the rear of the home.

The home's owner, Jay Johnson, was home at the time of the fire, Gardner said. He was not injured.

The location of the home in rural Linn County made fighting the blaze challenging, Gardner said.

'One of the issues they had was getting water to the scene,” he said.

A total of 17 departments responded to the fire, including Cedar Rapids, West Bertram, Marion, Springville, Lisbon, Ely, Mechanicsville, Martelle, Stanwood, Clarence, Alburnett, Morley, Swisher, Anamosa, Olin and Central City, as well as Lisbon/Mount Vernon Ambulance and the sheriff's office.

Gardner said that authorities do not believe there is anything suspicious about the fire at this time. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation. Investigators from Mount Vernon fire, the sheriff's office and the State Fire Marshal's Office are expected to return to the home Tuesday.

Johnson, a Cedar Rapids-based independent business consultant, spearheaded the creation of a think tank to address violence and mental health issues in Cedar Rapids last fall.