Fire heavily damages vacant Hawkeye house

No one was hurt when fire broke out at a vacant house in Hawkeye early Sunday morning, authorities said.

Crews responded at 4:38 a.m. to 206 Pearl St. when two neighbors reported the blaze. The first firefighters to arrive found flames shooting from the upstairs windows.

“It was blazing pretty good,” Hawkeye Fire Chief Dwane Koch said.

Firefighters from Hawkeye and West Union battled the fire for about 4 1/2 hours and were able to prevent damage to a nearby church and a house. They used a boom truck provided by the Sumner Municipal Light Plant to fight the blaze from a higher vantage point, Koch said.

Koch said fire destroyed much of the interior of the house, but all four walls were still standing when the fire was extinguished. He said the home had been occupied off-and-on, but was vacant at the time. The property is owned by Joe Swatek of West Union.

“It wouldn't have been a good situation if someone had been in there,” Koch said.

The cause of the fire has not been determined. No utilities were hooked up to the house, Koch said.

“Any time you don't have utilities, there's always a suspicion,” Koch said.

An investigation is continuing.