A house fire that occurred early this (Friday) morning in Massena has claimed a life. Massena Fire Chief Drew Williams told KJAN News a call about the fire at 208 Pine Street came in just before 1-a.m. When firefighters arrived, the house was already fully engulfed in flames. Crews were on the scene until about 5:30-a.m.

Williams would not release other details or the name of the victim. An investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office was expected to be on the scene later today. No other details are available.

The recent decrease in temperatures has led to an increase in home fires across Iowa. The Red Cross reports, since November 1, the agency has sent disaster teams to 28 home fires around the state. State Fire Marshal Jeff Quigle says a lot of fires at this time of year are sparked by the improper use of space heaters. He advises people to turn off the space heater when they leave the room and to use a newer model that shuts off automatically if it’s knocked over. “Make certain that you maintain at least a three foot area around the space heater, so it’s not up close to upholstered furniture or on a carpet,” Quigle said.

Space heaters should also be plugged directly into the outlet, rather than using an extension cord, according to Quigle. He’s also reminding Iowans to have smoke alarms installed on every level of their home and make sure they have fresh batteries. So far this year, 31 people have died in structure fires in Iowa. “This is a sharp increase over the same time period last year when we had 20 reported fire deaths,” Quigle said. “The big thing we see is 25 of the 31 reported fire deaths (this year) occurred in (homes or apartments) and only three had working smoke detectors.”

There were 25 fire-related fatalities reported in Iowa over all of 2013. That was down from 42 in 2012.

(Radio Iowa)

A traffic stop late Thursday night in Red Oak resulted in the arrest of a local man on drug charges. Red Oak Police say 45-year old Robert Joe Coddington, of Red Oak, faces Possession of Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine – 2nd offense, and OWI/1st offense, charges.

After Coddington was pulled over at around midnight at intersection of Eastern Avenue & Birch Streets, in Red Oak, officers found him to allegedly be in possession of Meth. Deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office assisted in making the arrest.  Coddington was taken into custody and brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center, where he was tested for OWI by the Cass County Sheriff’s Office’ Drug Recognition Expert.

Coddington was being held in the jail on $2,000 cash bond.

The Atlantic Police Department Thursday, issued a reminder to the public about numerous telephone scams being perpetrated against citizens every day. In recent weeks these scams have been escalating to the point that police are receiving several complaints per week.

Two of the most frequent types of calls claim to be from either the I.R.S. or from publishers clearing house. Some of the calls even use automated calling systems in order to sound legitimate.  Neither publishers clearing house, nor the IRS will use a telephone call to contact you with prizes won or taxes owed. Under no circumstances should you give any personal information (such as name and address or date of birth or social security number), financial information, (credit card numbers or bank account numbers) nor should you send cash or money orders to the caller. The only true way to handle the calls is to simply hang up. Any new calls should either not be answered if they show from that number, or if caller ID shows no number and it is the same type of call, simply hang up.

The scammers on the other end are experts at gaining your confidence or compliance by tempting you to win something or by threatening you with arrest. Police say you should simply hang up the phone. Authorities are aware of these scams and individual police reports are unnecessary.

If you have elderly family members that are unaware of these scams, sit down and explain the process with them. The scammers tend to prey especially on the elderly.

(Press Release)