Leaking water causes apartment building fire

Water from a leaky pipe caused an apartment building at 721 S. Edmunds to catch fire Friday, displacing four families.

The Mitchell Fire Department responded to the fire at 7:39 a.m. According to Steve Nedved, city fire marshal, dripping water from the pipe caused an electrical shortage in a crawl space in the unoccupied top-level apartment. The resulting fire caused heavy smoke and water damage.

Nedved considered the fire an accident. There were no injuries.

“It was a full-alarm response with on-duty and off-duty personnel called in,” he said. “We had a good outcome that nobody got hurt and we turned it back over to the owner.”

The owners, Boyd and Kay Reimnitz of Mitchell, were standing nearby as crews from Mitchell and Mount Vernon put out the flames.

Kay Reimnitz said she first realized a fire had broken out after receiving a few calls about water pouring into the main-level apartments. The final call from a tenant gave word that smoke was coming from the building.

“On a deal like this, everybody loses — the tenants lose, the banks lose, we lose,” she said. “Everybody is OK. … The first thing (is) you don’t want anybody to be injured or lose a life. Stuff happens.”

“It’s going to be tough to replace that building,” Boyd Reimnitz said. “At least nobody got hurt and all that stuff can be replaced.”

Comfort kits, food and clothes were provided to the displaced families from the Red Cross, according to a Red Cross news release. After searching for accommodations, Jackie Horton, director of the Dakota Plains Chapter of the Red Cross, had no luck in finding rooms for those who were displaced. After offering to open a shelter for the families, she said they all found alternative places to stay.

“More than likely, they will stay with family and friends or the landlords might have another rental,” she said.

Tags: apartment building fire, boyd reimnitz, news