Fire chief: Fire was a nightmare
Posted: 07.12.2011 at 5:24 PM
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BLAKESBURG, IOWA -- Details of the Blakesburg fire continue to come days after the blaze.

KTVO spoke with special agent Jeff Shatzer of the Iowa state fire marshall.  Shatzer says the investigation is still ongoing but the fire is deemed not suspicious. 

A tanker truck carrying gasoline and diesel fuel exploded while Brent Hutzell, 53, of Grimes, Iowa, was unloading fuel.

Blakesburg Fire Chief Steve West, who was one of the first responders to the scene, says despite the amount of firefighters in the town, communication was excellent.

“We actually had pretty fairly good communication with most of the departments,” said West. 

West said that many firefighters, himself included, had never battled a fire like the one Friday.  Despite training, the real thing was a different monster.

“You wake up to a nightmare that’s what it is.”

The Blakesburg fire department now has a copy of the footage from Friday.  West believes the video will be a great training tool for firefighters in the area.

“We’re hoping that people will be able to see the amount of the shock wave, understand how big the fireballs can be from the explosion.  We had four or five different explosions out of that.  I think a lot of potential would be people knowing what can’t happen and what can happen.”

To read coverage of the Blakesburg fire click here.