Five residents in a four unit apartment complex in Adair were safely evacuated from the structure during a fire that took place just before 8-a.m. today (Wednesday) Adair-Guthrie County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Kempf told KJAN News the fire happened at 802 3rd Street. The Red Cross was assisting the occupants with housing and clothing arrangements.

Firefighters from Adair and Casey responded to the scene. Kempf said two units in the building sustained “fairly significant damage”, while the two other units sustained minor damage. Adair Fire Chief Jordan Smith has said the cause of the fire remains under investigation, but a preliminary assessment indicates it may have begun in a closet area where a boiler was located.

No injuries were reported.

Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren presented Deputy Corey Larsen with an Outstanding Achievement award this (Wednesday) morning during a meeting of the County Board of Supervisors. The award was “For his excellent response while performing his duties on Nov. 26th, 2014.”

Cass County Sheriff’s Deputy Corey Larsen (Left) is presented with a plaque by Sheriff Darby McLaren.

McLaren said “While he was responding to a personal injury accident east of Marne, Larsen came across a van that had slid into the ditch. A 16-year old girl had severe injuries to her arm (and was bleeding profusely).” McLaren said the girl was likely in danger of losing her arm. Larsen applied a tourniquet and “most likely saved her arm.”

Lily Elliott w/Deputy Corey Larsen

The girl he helped save, Lily Elliott, of Marne, was in the Board Room when Larsen was presented with the award.

A traffic stop on Washington Street in Exira Tuesday night, resulted in the arrest of a local man on drug charges. The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office reports 24-year old Joel Roger Nelson, of Exira, was charged with Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Nelson was being held in the Audubon County Jail Wednesday morning.

A report released Tuesday shows 50 law enforcement officers were killed by guns this year across the country. Sergeant Scott Bright, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Safety, says none of those incidents occurred in Iowa.

Iowa Peace Officer Memorial, in Des Moines.

“We did not lose any law enforcement officers throughout the state due to gunfire,” Bright said. The last time an Iowa law officer was killed by gunfire was on September 13, 2013. Jamie Buenting was an eight-year veteran of the Rockwell City police department. This past September, a jury found 33-year-old Corey Trott guilty in Buenting’s shooting death.

“I believe the one before that was Deputy Eric Stein in 2011,” Bright said. “We don’t usually have them every year…we were very fortunate this year we did not have any.” Keokuk County Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Stein was killed on April 4, 2011. His alleged killer, 53-year-old Jeff Krier, was later shot and killed by other law officers during a standoff. Stein’s death marked the first time in 25 years an Iowa law enforcement officer was shot and killed while on duty. At least two police officers in the state were injured by gunfire this year.

City Police Officer Jill Ohm was shot in the chin as she was responding to a disturbance call on October 3. The man who allegedly shot Ohm, 27-year-old Noah Ironshell, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. On April 1, Maquoketa Police Sergeant Brendan Zeimet was hit in the arm in an exchange of gunfire with a motorist who was said to have a history of mental health issues. That individual, 30-year-old Aaron Scott, was also found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Over the state’s history, at least 189 Iowa law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty — with 105 from gunfire, according to the “Officer Down Memorial Page” website — http://www.odmp.org/.