Fire destroys cabin at Riverside Bible Camp

The cause of an early morning fire that destroyed a cabin at the Riverside Bible Camp north of Story County and caused extensive damage to another is under investigation.

The Story City Fire Department responded to a fire at the camp, 3001 Riverside Road, about 3 miles north of Story City, just west of Interstate 35, at about 3 a.m., after a passerby called it in, Story City Fire Chief Lysle Macdonald said.

"One of the cabins is a complete loss," he said. "The second one has extensive damage but should be rebuildable."

Although officials from Riverside couldn't give an estimate cost for the amount of damage the fire caused at the camp, Shepherd's cabin was the one completely destroyed and the Almighty cabin's total damage will be determined by their insurance adjuster, Chris Dahl, the executive director for Riverside and Cheri Schendel-Hennager, associate director told the Tribune in a Facebook message.

No one was staying in the cabins and no injuries were reported, Macdonald said.

Macdonald said firefighters were able to "knock down" the fire at the cabins pretty quickly.

He said sparks from the flames at one cabin likely jumped to the other, setting it on fire.

"The wind was out of the right direction, so sparks just jumped," he said. "They're both dry wood kind of cabins, so ... "

While no one was at the camp, located across the county line in Hamilton County, it is the time of year camp leaders start preparing for spring programs and events, he said.

And although one cabin was destroyed and another damaged, it will not interfere with any spring or summer activities.

"All of our scheduled spring events and retreats will be able to move forward as planned," Dahl and Schendler-Hennager said. "Summer camp begins in June which should be plenty of time for us to ensure ALL summer campers are able to come to camp, regardless of this morning's unfortunate fire."

The Story City Fire Department was assisted at the scene by fire departments from Roland, Gilbert and Jewell.

Macdonald said his department and the camp's insurance company would work together in determining a cause of the fire.

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