The second house fire in a week to affect a residence near Villisca took place late Friday night, south of Villisca. According to reports, a home at 1372 Highway 71 was engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived a short time after 10:40-p.m.

Water tanker trucks from Clarinda and Stanton were called to assist crews from Villisca, with several trips being made between the department to keep the tankers filled. Highway 71 was closed to traffics in the area so those trucks could make it to the scene unencumbered. Also on the scene were the Red Oak and Villisca’s EMS units, Montgomery and Page County Sheriff’s Deputies, officials with the Rural Water District, and MidAmerican Energy.

The home was a complete loss. No injuries were reported. Firefighters were at the scene for about three-hours and 15-minutes, with activities wrapped-up by around 2-a.m., Saturday.  A cause of the fire had not been determined as of the latest report. The State Fire Marshall’s Office was contacted to complete the investigation.

You may recall, that at around 8:15-p.m. on February 14th, Villisca Fire & Rescue were paged to 3269 260th Street, also for a working residential structure fire. No injuries were reported with that blaze, which remains under investigation.