Firefighters from six area departments responded to a log cabin fire about 6-miles northwest of Menlo, Sunday. Stuart Rescue EMS Director of Operations and Paramedic Jeff Howard told KJAN News firefighters from Menlo, Casey, Stuart, Adair, Guthrie Center and Panora were called to the scene of the blaze at 3067 Oleander Trail in rural Casey, at around 7:16-p.m. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa State Patrol also assisted at the scene.

Howard said the weather and location of the 3,800-square foot home made it difficult to get to and fight the fire. The home he said was located about 200-feet off the road. He said the home was fully involved when crews arrived.

The residents were home but had gotten out safely. One fire fighter was treated at the scene for a medical condition but there were no injuries. Firefighters dealt with sub-freezing temperatures as the fought the blaze, and wind chill temperatures dipping to around -25 degrees. Howard said those types of conditions take their toll on personnel and equipment.

He said when they arrived on scene it was 6 degrees below zero. When they left, it was 14 below. That causes the lines freeze up, gloves to become caked with ice, and the firefighters get cold and need rehab breaks. He said “It’s just awful.” The Red Cross was activated to provide the family with necessities. Howard said they were staying with other family members in the area.

The Atlantic Police Department reports two arrests on Saturday. 29-year old Adam Morris,  and 31-year old Brea Roark, both of Atlantic, were arrested on charges of Domestic Abuse Assault. Both were brought to the Cass County Jail and booked-in.

And, no injuries were reported following an accident Sunday morning at 22nd and Olive Streets, in Atlantic. Officials say a vehicle driven by Haley Pottebaum, of Griswold, was traveling west in the 600 block of East 22nd Street when her vehicle hit the left rear bumper of a legally parked vehicle registered to Jason Redler, of Atlantic. Damage from the accident amounted to $4,000. Pottebaum was cited for Failure to Maintain Control. The accident happened at around 3:20-a.m.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports three separate arrests last week. On Friday, 39-year old Kara Marcine Lorimor, of Sidney, was arrested for Harassment in the 3rd degree, and Contempt of Court, and, 22-year old Alexandra Brooke Odell, of Hamburg, was arrested for Carrying a Weapon, Harassment in the 3rd degree, and Trespassing.

And on Wednesday, 23-year old Christopher Allen Richter, of Sidney, was arrested on three counts of burglary.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is asking traffic to avoid the area about two-miles north of the Latter Day Saints Church at intersection of Highways 6 and 71, northeast of Atlantic. Numerous pieces of emergency equipment are in that location as crews work to battle a two-story house fire on 650^th Street.

Looking south from Troublesome Creek Road (Ric Hanson/photo)

Looking north from Fayette Road. (Ric Hanson/photo)

Atlantic Fire was dispatched to a reported fire in the basement of a home at 54924 650th Street just before 8-a.m. The fire was reportedly started by a space heater. Everyone evacuated the home safely. Anita and Wiota Fire were asked to bring their tanker trucks to the scene. Firefighters from Marne were also called to offer mutual-aid. Smoke from the blaze could be seen for miles.

No other details are available.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Jury selection is expected to begin Monday in the lawsuit against the maker of an infant formula that’s being blamed for brain damage suffered by an Iowa girl.  The Sioux City Journal says  5-year-old Jeanine Kunkel, of Sioux City, is unable to speak. She takes six medications a day and is given nourishment through a tube.

The lawsuit filed in February 2011 alleges that powdered Similac powder prepared by the girl’s mother led to Jeanine contracting bacterial meningitis that caused severe brain damage just days after Jeanine was born in April 2008.

Spokeswoman Tami Jones for Similac manufacturer Abbott Laboratories says all of Abbott’s powdered infant formula products are extensively tested before release to ensure they meet nutritional needs and to ensure the their safety.