Iowa City Fire Department responds to three structure fires in a single day

IOWA CITY - Iowa City firefighters responded to three separate structure fires Monday.

However, fire officials say the fires are not suspicious or connected in any way.

'Just given the circumstances of these fires ... these fires aren't connected in that way,” said Battalion Chief Eric Nurmberg. 'It just happened to be a busy day for us, is all.”

Firefighters were first called to 18 Commercial Drive at 8:30 a.m. for a report of a fire in a commercial building. Responding crews encountered smoke coming from the roof of Streb Concrete, forcing firefighters to cut through the roof and walls of the building to fight and extinguish the blaze.

Crews were later called to the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, 816 N. Dubuque St., at 9:21 p.m. for a fire in a third-floor bedroom. Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the single bedroom and one person was displaced as a result of the fire.

While units were still on the scene of the fraternity house fire, they were notified to a building fire at 630 S. Capitol St. Crews responded from the fraternity house to the Capitol Street fire and discovered a fire in a dumpster enclosure inside the building. Officials said firefighting efforts were 'complicated” by the fire extending through a refuse chute, which ran the height of the five-story building. However, crews were able to get the fire under control in an hour. There were no residents displaced as a result of the fire.

A total of six units and 18 firefighters responded to the three calls on Monday. There were no injuries reported to civilians or firefighters. The causes of all three fires remain under investigation by the Iowa City Fire Marshal.